


Running in Circles: Part 1

by baeksesoolove (silentlylo)



Series: Running in Circles [1]
Category: BLACKPINK (Band), EXO (Band)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Lots of Sex, M/M, Religious Discussion, and enjoy!, and i threw everyone in k-pop in as side characters, and many more that would be spoilers, and they change a lot over time, and underage drinking, but if i didn't love them i wouldn't have used them, but it's more fun to use k-pop idols than original characters, cue the angst, everyone i put in this story i love, everything else is a SURPRISE!, hopefully anyway since as of right now this story is still a WIP, i don't want to give spoilers so just trust me on this, i'm really sorry about this hot mess of a fic, if you like fluff this is not your story, if you like messy dramas with twists and turns THIS IS YOUR STORY, if you're judgmental of people who handle things badly this is not your story, if you've read any of my other stories and decided they weren't for you this is not your story, it's not even about anything, lots of legal drug use and drinking too, lots of partying happens in this story, lots of really bad decisions are made, mental issues, now for some Trigger Warnings:, now for the actual warnings, religious criticism, so a lot of underage drug use, so please proceed with caution, so the only two i'm listing above are the two that are endgame, sorry if you don't like how your faves are portrayed, there are a lot of different relationships in this story, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:09:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 136,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28394409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentlylo/pseuds/baeksesoolove
Summary: Seasons change and our love went coldFeed the flame 'cause we can't let it goRun away, but we're running in circlesRun away, run away- "Running in Circles," Post MaloneKyungsoo hates everything about being in college and wants to drop out so he can make his acting career happen. Chanyeol is the rising star of his college basketball team with dreams of being drafted into the NBA. When Kyungsoo's best friend Jongin starts dating social media influencer Jennie Kim, Kyungsoo's and Chanyeol's worlds collide in ways that neither of them could ever have expected.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Park Chanyeol, Jennie Kim/Kim Jongin | Kai
Series: Running in Circles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079537
Comments: 44
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a 4-part story with tons of characters that is about absolutely nothing. 
> 
> I woke up one day with an idea, then started writing the backstory for that idea, and 3 parts later, I still haven't gotten to the idea. I got caught up living vicariously through the lives of these rich and privileged characters. I blame the pandemic for this.
> 
> Please read the tags. The tags apply to all 4 parts of the story. I figured I'd give everyone a heads-up before they became too invested. Most of these tags I don't think even apply to Part 1, but trust me when I say, it all goes downhill from here.
> 
> The story is told from 3 points of view: Kyungsoo, Jongin, Chanyeol. Was it necessary to have all 3? Probably not. Did I do it anyway? Yep. I originally wanted to do it from more, but my beta told me to stop trippin' and just pick three. Bless my beta. Otherwise, I'd still be writing Part 1.
> 
> Parts 1-3 are completely written. I have not started on Part 4 yet. Part 1 is posting now, Part 2 is sitting in my AO3 drafts as I continue to edit it and will hopefully post sooner rather than later. Part 3 won't post until way later since I want to at least get halfway through Part 4 before revisiting it.
> 
> WIPs suck, and that's why I try and avoid posting them, but because I invested so much (all of last year basically) into writing Parts 1-3, I want to post it as a way to motivate myself and challenge myself to finish it. Especially since there's a BaekSoo I want to write that I won't allow myself to start on until this RIC adventure is all done. Ha!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for giving my stories a chance. I hope you enjoy this journey and that it helps you escape a bit from your day to day life. 😊

_Maybe you don't understand what I'm going through  
_ _It's only me  
_ _What you got to lose?_  
_Make up your mind, tell me  
_ _What are you gonna do?  
_ _It's only me_

On the list of things that Kyungsoo needed to take care of that week, first and foremost would be finding a way to switch his 8 a.m. class to one later in the day, preferably to sometime after his brain functioned enough to avoid banging his foot into his bed and forgetting to take off his T-shirt before turning on the shower.

Kyungsoo yawned as he strode toward the three-story building that had his first class of the day. He had managed to somehow survive the first semester of freshman year of college without being kicked out, but he wasn’t entirely sure that he had it in him to survive this second semester in the same fashion. And surviving really was the best way he could describe it. The whole college thing hadn’t been his idea, but his parents had mentioned something about “giving it a shot” and “making himself proud,” which he knew had been their way of saying that they wanted him to make them proud.

The hallway wasn’t packed like it usually was, and Kyungsoo reasoned that only freshmen like him were dumb enough to have class this early in the morning. As he walked into the appropriate classroom, Kyungsoo noticed only about five other sleepy students sitting in desks. He shuffled toward the back hoping more people showed up, otherwise he’d have a hard time zoning out and not being noticed.

The professor wrote the name of the class “Applied Business Statistics” on the whiteboard and Kyungsoo yawned again, then checked his phone to see if anyone had posted any news on the latest Christopher Nolan film in the acting subreddit.

He knew his dream of somehow getting magically cast in it was a longshot, but Kyungsoo checked anyway, hoping that the casting agency details were leaked soon.

The door opened and Kyungsoo glanced over at the new arrival, then watched the tall, lanky student with black hair, disheveled and covering his eyes, take a seat in the back row, just two desks away from him.

He looked away and back down at his phone, thinking that the guy seemed familiar somehow.

Kyungsoo then glanced back at the tall student again and watched as he opened his bottle of bright blue Powerade and took a rather long guzzle that made his Adam’s apple bob in a hypnotizing way.

The tall student’s eyes cut toward him as he finished drinking, and Kyungsoo looked toward the professor and decided he’d try really hard to focus on him instead. That was until he realized that statistics involved a lot of numbers and he had never been good at those.

He doodled in his notebook, and mercifully, time flew by fast enough for him to manage making it through class without falling asleep.

***

There was something frenetic about January to Kyungsoo that unnerved him each year. He liked to blame it on the short days, chilly air, and the fact that his sweater collection was never as robust as it needed to be, but really, deep down inside, he knew that January meant the stress of making things happen that he hadn’t made happen last year.

He had a lot of goals he had intended on achieving before he turned 19, like landing an acting job so that he could get out of the college thing altogether. But he had turned 19 yesterday and felt like a complete failure that he hadn’t managed to achieve a single thing he had set out to do. So, he had shifted his goals to be completed by the time he turned 20 and hated that he was already off to a terrible start just one day in.

Kyungsoo entered the lobby of their apartment building and checked the mail, empty as usual, then pushed the elevator button and texted Jongdae to see if he was home. Thankfully his best friend had gotten into the same university as him, and thankfully they had been able to arrange rooming together in one of the campus apartments.

His parents had been a bit annoyed with him that he didn’t want the freshman dorm experience, but Kyungsoo had explained to them that he still had flashbacks to that one camp they had sent him to over the summer and that living with his nine other cabin mates had assured him that he’d rather live alone for the rest of his life if at all possible.

Which wasn’t entirely true.

Kyungsoo hadn’t minded the ruckus of their 10-member cabin, and he often found the antics of his cabin mates amusing and entertaining. But now he was older and had a solid group of friends that he’d prefer to share antics with.

“I can’t believe I’m suffering through this again,” Kyungsoo lamented as he entered their apartment.

“Is it really suffering?” Jongdae asked, sitting on the floor of their living room, laying out sheets of scenes scribbled onto notebook paper into a pattern that made sense to only him. “Or did you just pick a bad schedule this year?”

“It’s both,” Kyungsoo stated, dropping his backpack onto their small breakfast table and plopping onto the couch to watch Jongdae do whatever he was doing. He was used to watching Jongdae work on his art, although this looked less artsy than what he normally did. “Maybe if I was like Jongin and had started my career before college, I wouldn’t feel as if I was suffering as much.”

“We can’t all be born genius dancers,” Jongdae said with a chuckle.

It was true, their other best friend Jongin had been born to dance, and while Kyungsoo liked to think that Jongdae had been born to art and Kyungsoo had been born to act, only Jongin had actually taken his talent to the professional level before getting his college acceptance letter.

“What are you doing exactly?” Kyungsoo asked Jongdae.

“I’m taking a storyboarding class this semester,” Jongdae said with a big smile, and Kyungsoo wished he could find the same enthusiasm in his own classes.

“Like film storyboarding?” Kyungsoo said, pulling his sweater off now that he was home so that he could just relax in his soft and slightly oversized gray T-shirt.

“Yeah,” Jongdae nodded, “Let’s be real, the only thing an art degree is going to get me in this city are industry jobs, so I’m preparing. Plus, I’m kinda hoping that we get to work on movies together.”

Kyungsoo’s smile grew wide, and he considered the possibilities, “You could do animation for Pixar, and I can do voice acting for all your films.”

“That would be amazing,” Jongdae said, looking at him with bright eyes. “Your voice would be so cool for voice acting.”

“I’ll add it to our ‘Goals before we turn 20’ list.”

“Speaking of…” Jongdae began, “Jongin’s birthday party tomorrow night…”

Kyungsoo’s lips twitched to the side and he replied with a simple, “Yeah.”

“Like, I think things are getting kind of serious between him and Jennie if she’s the one organizing everything.”

“Yeah…” Kyungsoo said again, not sure how to wrap his head around Jongin’s latest girlfriend. “I mean, you know, Jongin falls easy and fast so… I don’t know.”

Jongdae looked at him for a moment and then nodded and said, “I don’t know either.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fun though,” Kyungsoo shrugged.

“We’ll see,” Jongdae said with a laugh.

Kyungsoo didn’t laugh along. He wished he could find Jongin’s new relationship amusing, but Kyungsoo had honestly really liked Jongin’s ex-girlfriend Krystal and thought they should be together still. Krystal was quiet, and Kyungsoo and her had become friends because they understood being misunderstood for their introversion. Jennie was bubbly and cute and expressive and had lots of friends and lots of social events that she was invited to and liked to drag Jongin to.

Naturally Jongdae got along with her just fine since he too was bubbly and expressive.

Kyungsoo sighed and got up to get a snack. He was going to need the brainpower to attempt to understand any of the notes he had tried to take that day.

***

Last year, Kyungsoo and Jongin had done a joint birthday celebration at Kyungsoo’s house, with only their closest friends invited, that involved pizza and playing video games. He couldn’t have predicted that a year later, he’d be in Jennie’s cousin’s house, whoever Jennie’s cousin even was, drinking beer out of a red cup surrounded by more people than he was sure the fire code of the condo allowed for.

“This isn’t Jongin’s style,” Kyungsoo said to Jongdae as he stood in the dining room, popping jalapeño chips from a bowl and trying to take it all in. “Did she even take Jongin into consideration when she planned this?”

“I think she just used his birthday as an excuse to throw a party,” Jongdae said, sipping his beer and looking amused by it all. “He seems to be enjoying it though.”

Kyungsoo looked toward the living room where Jongin was dancing with Jennie near the speakers that blasted whatever playlist she had thrown together for this event, and Kyungsoo did have to admit that Jongin looked like he was enjoying himself.

But not as much as Jennie, who wore a sparkly mini dress and a tiara, as if she was the person being celebrated instead of her boyfriend.

“Soo!” a familiar voice rang out over the music and conversations around them, and Kyungsoo turned his head in surprise to look at the unexpected appearance of his friend.

“Baek!” Kyungsoo’s eyes brightened up, and he smiled as he was given a big hug from the guy who was just only slightly taller than him. “Why are you here? Weren’t you traveling until summer?”

“Came back early because traveling sucks,” Baekhyun said, giving a hug to Jongdae as well. “Dae, you look the same.”

“How else would I look?” Jongdae asked as he laughed and returned the hug. “Who invited you so that we know which friend to unfriend to make sure we never run into you again?”

“Asshole,” Baekhyun said, pretending to knee him, and then he turned his attention back to Kyungsoo. “How’s ‘SC going?”

“I’m suffering,” Kyungsoo told him. “Please tell me you miraculously have the name of my dream agent so I can quit already.”

Baekhyun chuckled and reached for some chips, bopping his head to the thud of the repetitive beat coming from the speakers.

“Ah, sorry, man. But don’t worry, I’m here to save the day. I was going to surprise you on campus, but since I found out about this party, I decided to surprise you here instead,” Baekhyun told them with a grin.

“Wait,” Jongdae said, blinking and as surprised as Kyungsoo was, “You’re at ‘SC too?”

“Yep, started this semester,” Baekhyun said with a proud smile.

“But we had a pact,” Kyungsoo said a bit stunned by this. “You were skipping school, and I was going to find my way out of it.”

“I know,” Baekhyun said, chuckling, “But things changed, and I ended up contacting the school to say that I wanted to end my deferment and enroll.”

“This is the best news ever,” Jongdae said, bouncing with energy in excitement. “Now I don’t have to hang out with Soo all the time.”

Baekhyun retorted with a snarky comment about not wanting to hang out with him that set them both off on a battle of lame comebacks. Kyungsoo knew this could go on for a long time and that either could be the victor.

Kyungsoo had first met Baekhyun back in middle school, the outcome of parents with a mutual interest in hiking and having been part of the same hiking club. It was at a boring picnic where Kyungsoo had spent the majority of his time at a picnic table playing his Nintendo 3DS and wishing he was anywhere but there.

Luckily a very loud and extroverted boy by the name of Baekhyun joined him and made him play more interesting games with him, like trying to see how many hot dogs they could eat before throwing up. Kyungsoo had liked Baekhyun upon first meeting due to the fact that he was absolutely nothing like him and reminded him of Jongdae.

Once they had gotten older and stopped being dragged to hiking events by their parents, they kept their friendship going through online gaming and saw each other every now and then at gatherings like these. They usually popped up at the same parties not realizing they had mutual friends, much like right now.

“So, do we like Jennie or not?” Baekhyun asked, grabbing the bowl of chips to hold for them to access the chips better. They really had monopolized the area.

“Soo hates her,” Jongdae said with a snicker.

“I don’t hate her,” Kyungsoo sighed. “If Jongin’s happy, then I’m cool with it.”

“He looks pretty happy,” Baekhyun said, looking at the couple who were still dancing as if needing to assess them properly. “Jennie’s sweet,” Baekhyun then said, looking back toward Kyungsoo. “And they’re really fucking pretty together.”

“Yeah because that’s the important thing here,” Jongdae said with a poke at Baekhyun.

“Listen, it’s like that great pop classic song said. We all know that God spent a little more time on Jongin. When you’re blessed with his looks and body and probably large dick, you deserve someone pretty by your side.”

“His dick’s not that large,” Kyungsoo and Jongdae said at the same time, and Baekhyun cackled.

“You’re both jealous fucks,” Baekhyun said, popping more chips in his mouth. “Either way, stop hating, Soo.”

Kyungsoo really wished he could, but instead he grabbed his cup from the table again and said, “I need more beer.”

“Fill up please,” Jongdae said, handing him his cup as well, and Kyungsoo just grabbed Baekhyun’s, not needing to be asked twice.

He worked his way through the moving bodies, some that he vaguely remembered from high school, but most completely foreign to him. They must have been Jennie’s friends, and Kyungsoo sighed and tried to not judge too harshly.

He found the keg and got in line, waiting for a girl that was already drunk to finish filling what looked like a bucket as her equally as drunk friend egged her on to fill it to the top.

“Soo!”

Kyungsoo turned his head to see the woman of the hour heading in his direction, pulling a rather lanky but pretty girl behind her. He looked around for Jongin and saw him hugging Jongdae and Baekhyun.

“Hey, Jennie,” Kyungsoo said, wondering why she was seeking him out and why she was pulling that poor girl behind her.

“Hi!” she said, giving him a big hug as if they had been friends forever. Kyungsoo often wondered if Jennie knew that he wasn’t as fond of her as she wanted and therefore tried to overcompensate. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“He’s my best friend? Of course I made it.”

Jennie smiled at him, a twinkle in her eye, or maybe she was buzzed.

“Nini was worried you wouldn’t show,” Jennie said. “He said this wasn’t your kind of scene. It means so much to him that you came.”

“Nini was just being dramatic,” Kyungsoo assured her, not that she’d probably figured that out about him yet. Also, when did she get to start calling him Nini? Kyungsoo had to wait at least a year into their friendship before he got to finally call him the nickname his family had given him.

Jennie laughed and then looked over at the girl with her and said, “This is Nini’s best friend, Kyungsoo.”

“Yeah, I got that,” she said, nodding and then smiling at him.

“This is my bestie Lisa,” Jennie then introduced. “She’s the one that introduced me to Jongin. They dance together.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, now realizing who she was and happy to have a face to go with the name, “Jongin’s told me all about you. He says you’re an amazing dancer.”

“Well, I’m no Jongin…” Lisa said, looking a bit shy as she pushed her light brown hair behind her ear. “But I work hard.”

“Jennie!” The girls at the front of the line had finally filled their bucket and had brought it over to Jennie. “Are you going to chug with us?”

“This is Chanel,” Jennie said, her hand motioning over her dress, “If I tried to chug out of that bucket, I would ruin this dress in a second.”

“Not the Chanel,” Lisa said, feigning shock with big wide eyes that made Kyungsoo chuckle.

“We’ll get you a smaller cup,” one of the bucket girls said as she ran back to push the person getting beer out of the way to fill it up.

“Found you!” Jongin said, running up behind Jennie to wrap his arms around her waist from behind. “And found you too,” he said to Kyungsoo.

“I was waiting my turn to dance with you,” Kyungsoo told him, and Jongin laughed his dorky laugh, which made Jennie laugh too.

“Oh, wait, did you meet Lisa?” Jongin asked looking between them. “Lisa, this is my best friend, Kyungsoo.”

“I’ve heard,” Lisa said amused as she looked between them.

“I’m his other best friend,” Jongdae said standing beside her and waving.

“That’s my other best friend, Jongdae,” Jongin said, laughing again. “And that’s Baekhyun, who’s no one’s best friend.”

“I’m everyone’s best friend,” Baekhyun stated with a good-natured laugh.

“Him, I know,” Lisa said, pointing to Baekhyun. “Jisoo likes to drag him to our stuff.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said with a smile, “Is she coming tonight?”

“No, she couldn’t make it,” Lisa told him.

Kyungsoo looked over at Jongin, who just smiled and shook his head. Their world was a small one, no doubt, but it still boggled his mind how it was inevitable that someone knew someone or was friends with someone or had hooked up with someone that knew someone they knew. Or something like that.

Kyungsoo was able to finally reach the front of the line and refill their beers, though now he had no idea whose cup had belonged to whom. He handed them out at random and filled new ones for the rest of the friends that had joined, and then Jennie suggested they head up to the roof and enjoy the view to get away from the craziness for a little bit.

He managed to keep the snarky reply about the craziness being of her own creation to himself, and instead muttered it to Jongdae for only his ears. Jongdae cackled and put his arm around Kyungsoo as they followed Jennie up the stairs that led to the roof.

The cold wind of the January night didn’t bother him at all, needing to release some of the heat he had built up being surrounded by so many people.

“Show us one of your dance routines,” Baekhyun told Jongin and Lisa, who looked at each other and had a short discussion of something they had learned.

Kyungsoo sat on a comfortable red sofa that had been put on the roof for décor, fairy lights hanging around and a small red railing being the only thing to keep them from plummeting to certain death. The view of Los Angeles was amazing, and Kyungsoo took it all in and felt an odd sense of loneliness, but not in a way that made him sad.

“Okay, this is one we’re working through right now for a project,” Jongin announced before he and Lisa started popping their bodies in ways that made no sense. And within the popping, there was grace and beauty on Jongin’s side, and sharp movements and artistry on Lisa’s.

They matched well together, though in completely different ways, and Kyungsoo wondered why Jongin hadn’t been interested in Lisa instead. She seemed a bit more palatable than Jennie, who clapped when they were done and ran toward Jongin to reward him with a hug and rather gratuitous kiss.

“Okay, my turn,” Baekhyun said, getting up and stretching as if preparing for a dance routine as well.

Jongdae spat out his drink, and Kyungsoo took a sip of his, amused.

Lisa took a seat beside Kyungsoo and seemed to assess him, which made Kyungsoo a little self-conscious. He looked at her with a questioning look.

“Jennie thinks we should date,” Lisa told him with an amused twinkle in her eye, and it was Kyungsoo’s turn to spit out his drink. Lisa laughed at him and looked around for any signs of a napkin, but there wasn’t one.

“Why?” Kyungsoo asked her. “Is she not aware I’m gay?”

“I’m sure Jongin’s told her,” Lisa replied, “But I think she’s registering it as you being bi or something because all she cares about is that she and I are friends, you and Jongin are friends, and she thinks it’d be cute if we double dated.”

“Am I invisible?” Jongdae asked. “Why didn’t he recommend me?”

“Something about Kyungsoo being more my type,” Lisa told him with a soft snort. “Why? Are you interested?”

“It’s the principle,” Jongdae said, and he glared at Jongin when he sat down, Jennie making herself comfortable on his lap with her arms around his neck and her leg crossed over the other. Kyungsoo wondered if she was freezing in that little dress. “So, I’m not good enough to hook up with your friends?”

“I want you to date Rosé,” Jennie answered before Jongin could defend himself. “I picked out the perfect friends to go with the perfect friends,” she said as if they were her wardrobe closet. “Lisa and Kyungsoo, you and Rosé, and I guess now that Baekhyun is here, he could date Jisoo.”

“I don’t date,” Baekhyun said, joining them and picking up his beer again. “I don’t like breaking hearts.”

“You’re so funny,” Jennie said to him, amused, and Kyungsoo wanted to point out that Baekhyun wasn’t joking and that he was afraid of commitment, but if she couldn’t wrap her head around Kyungsoo being gay, then there probably was no point in explaining that one to her either. Jennie then turned her attention to Kyungsoo and cocked her head, looking both young and assertive at the same time. “Just go on one date and see how it goes, okay? You’re both single, and you both deserve great people.”

Before Kyungsoo could point out that Lisa wasn’t his type, Jongdae interrupted by asking, “Were you going to give me Rosé’s number tonight?”

“I’ll give it to you,” Jongin said, with a chuckle.

“I don’t want it,” Jongdae clarified, “Again, it’s the principle. Wait, did you not invite her? Is she not here?”

“Her parents wouldn’t let her come,” Jennie said with a pout. “It was a school night. She’ll normally sneak out anyway, but she’s kind of grounded because of another party.”

“Wait,” Jongdae said, putting his hand up, “She’s grounded? Is she five?”

“She hasn’t graduated yet,” Lisa told him. “She’s still in high school. She’s the youngest of our crew.”

“Let me get this straight,” Jongdae said to Jongin, “You’re letting her set me up with jailbait?”

“She’s only a year younger than you,” Jongin pointed out. “Don’t act like you weren’t just in high school less than a year ago.”

“She turns 18 next month,” Jennie said, “I’ll make sure to add you guys to the invite for her birthday party.”

Kyungsoo was going to make sure to have another commitment on that date.

“I’m going to pass on that and the date anyway,” Jongdae stated.

Kyungsoo rather enjoyed their time on the roof, but Jennie was getting cold, and Jongin’s caressing of her arms to try and warm her up could only do so much. They ended up going back downstairs to the party, which had become more chaotic to the point that Kyungsoo let Jongin know he was going to head home.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Jongin said, giving him a tight hug and walking him toward the door. “I know you’d rather be anywhere but here.”

“Ah, no,” Kyungsoo said, smiling at him and fixing his hair for him, even though somehow the cold breeze had managed to make it look good in a messy way. “I wasn’t going to miss your birthday. Though this is really different than the one we just had for me.”

“Confession?” Jongin said, looking around to make sure Jennie wasn’t around to hear him, “I liked yours better.”

Kyungsoo smiled and pat him on the back, then looked over his shoulder to make sure Jongdae was with him, but instead, Jongdae was speaking to Lisa, in a rather conspiratorial way that made her laugh, and then both Kyungsoo and Jongin said, “oh” as they watched them exchange numbers.

Jongdae walked over to them with a smooth stride and said, “Let’s go.”

“I can’t believe you stole Kyungsoo’s date,” Jongin teased him, knowing that Kyungsoo and Lisa were never going to go on that date in the first place.

“I can’t believe you tried to set me up with a kid,” Jongdae said back, punching Jongin’s arm lightly.

Kyungsoo chuckled at the both of them then left with a very pleased Jongdae.

***

Kyungsoo’s favorite part of going home for the weekend was eating his mother’s food. She had prepared him soybean stew, his favorite of her many expert dishes, and he slurped his way through it at the dinner table as if he hadn’t eaten all week.

“This is what happens when you eat junk food all day,” his mother scolded him, lightly, in a caring way.

“I throw in some healthy stuff here and there,” he said with a grin to appease her and make her chuckle.

His mother ran her hand through his hair and gave his head a pat before sitting across from him. His father was out playing golf with some business friends and was having lunch with them before coming home.

“How are your studies going so far?” She asked him, blowing the stew on her spoon before taking a bite.

“Too early to tell,” he stated. “I think I might pass at least one.”

“You’ll pass them all,” she told him, used to his negative outlooks. “You’re smart. There’s no reason for you to not pass them.”

“Did you know Baekhyun was back from his trip already and is at ‘SC this semester?” He then thought to ask. “Did his mom tell you? I just found out.”

“Oh,” she said, and blew some more stew and ate another spoonful. “I haven’t seen them in so long. I didn’t know. How is he?”

“Same as usual,” Kyungsoo shrugged.

“Oh good,” she said, looking a bit surprised. “I wasn’t sure.”

Kyungsoo raised a thick eyebrow at her, “You weren’t sure he was okay?”

“Well,” she said, mixing her stew around a bit more. “His family has been going through a lot of trouble lately. You always hope it doesn’t affect the children, but you never know.”

“What kind of trouble?” Kyungsoo asked, now trying to recall if Baekhyun had acted off at all.

“Oh, grown-up things,” she waved off, “Nothing for you to worry about.”

Kyungsoo almost reminded her that he was technically an adult now, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. To his mom, he’d always be her little boy, which Kyungsoo figured was her way of holding onto one kid since his brother had abandoned ship as soon as he was legal enough to get out of the house.

They enjoyed their lunch and then his mom left for a shopping trip with her friends just as Jongin arrived to keep him company for a bit. Which happened to be his other favorite part of going home for the weekend.

Now that his schedule was centered around college and Jongin’s was centered around his dance career, the only time the friends got to really catch up was on the weekend, when they were both home getting spoiled by their respective families with their favorite home-cooked meals.

Usually when Jongin came over, they’d play video games, unless it was Sunday, in which case, they’d spend it instead texting Jongdae to help him get through the many hours of church services and church activities he had to be a part of as a pastor’s son.

“I still can’t believe you showed up to my birthday party,” Jongin mused as he took the controller and relaxed on the couch in the family room.

Kyungsoo dropped a bag of chips on the coffee table for them and handed Jongin a can of soda.

“I still can’t believe you think that was a birthday party for you,” Kyungsoo teased back, stepping over Jongin’s long legs to sit on the other side of him on the couch. He took a sip of his soda then grabbed his controller to pick his character.

“Who was it a birthday party for then?” Jongin asked, playing along with an amused smirk.

“It was an excuse to throw a party so she could show off her new Chanel dress,” Kyungsoo stated. He didn’t see the point in hiding his true feelings about things, and he figured that as a good friend, he should always be completely honest with his thoughts.

“She was really excited about wearing that dress,” Jongin chuckled. “She looked great in it, so it was definitely a present for me. She could have saved it for her birthday dinner this weekend with her parents, or her birthday party next weekend, but she wore it just for me for my birthday.”

“As long as you had a good time, that’s all that matters,” Kyungsoo conceded with a nod.

“I did. Especially after when it was just me and her in…”

“Did I ask?” Kyungsoo said, horrified and giving Jongin a shove with his shoulder that made his friend snicker. “No one wants to know about what you do after the party. Ew.” Kyungsoo pretended to shudder.

“I wasn’t even talking about that!” Jongin defended, looking shocked that Kyungsoo would even consider it. “I meant after when we spent time alone talking and she gave me my actual birthday gifts. Like ones in boxes with bows.”

“Suuure you did,” Kyungsoo teased him, and Jongin still looked at him in disbelief for a moment before turning his attention back to the game.

Kyungsoo always loved teasing Jongin about things like that, mostly because out of the three of them, Jongin was the one with the most relationship experience.

Relationships were something that Kyungsoo liked to think about, and something he envisioned himself doing more often. He just didn’t seem to find the opportunities for it the way that Jongin, and even Jongdae, did.

“I hope you weren’t too upset about the Lisa thing,” Jongin mentioned after their first match. They switched characters and took bites and drinks of their snacks. “I’ve tried to explain to Jennie that girls aren’t your type, but she doesn’t seem to get it. I think she just really had her heart set on you and Lisa and figured you’d change your mind when you met her.”

“I did like her,” Kyungsoo admitted, then ate some chips. “If I was into girls, I’m sure I’d be into her.”

“She’s the nicest person,” Jongin smiled. “And an amazing dancer.”

“And you didn’t go for her because?”

“I don’t know,” Jongin shrugged, pursing his bottom lip as if he had to think about it. “I think I just see her too much as a friend and dancing co-worker. Either way, we need to find you a guy version of her.”

“Hm, nice and an amazing dancer…” Kyungsoo said, tapping his chin as if pretending to think really hard, “I can’t even imagine a guy like that.”

“I’m sure there’s one at the dance studio,” Jongin laughed at the joke, and then his eyes went bright as if he had an epiphany. “I’ll find you one.”

Kyungsoo smiled at the idea and figured there was no harm in Jongin trying to find a gay version of himself for Kyungsoo since, sadly for him, any dream he had of the feeling being mutual crumbled with the knowledge that Jongin was very much straight.


	2. Chapter 2

Chanyeol was used to waking up before the sun to take laps around the track, and he was used to following his run with some informal hoop practice. He was also used to stopping by Tutor to grab breakfast, and he was very used to being alert for his morning classes, his workout always giving him the adrenaline boost and brain energy to pay decent enough attention to at least take notes.

What he wasn’t used to was being distracted.

At first, when the small guy who sat near him in his morning statistics class would show up, he’d be in black or dark blue hoodies, but all of a sudden he started showing up in a bright red hoodie, and Chanyeol found it to be very, very distracting.

Mostly because he thought he knew the guy from somewhere, and not being able to place him was what distracted him most of all.

“If it’s bugging you so much, why don’t you ask him?” his trainer Minseok asked as he watched Chanyeol work through a series of lunges.

“He’s not particularly approachable,” Chanyeol pointed out, shifting to do squats next. “He’s kinda mean looking actually. At least when he doesn’t look like he’s about to fall asleep. I’m just hoping to figure it out so that I don’t accidentally initiate contact with someone that I should already know.”

Minseok looked confused and pointed out, “Don’t you think he would have said something to you if you already knew each other?”

“The way I’ve said something to him?” Chanyeol reasoned back.

“You’re so…” Minseok shook his head and waved toward the free weights. “Go work on your arms.”

Chanyeol smirked and headed over to the weights, forcing himself to stop thinking about the red hoodie guy and start thinking about his upcoming game.

***

Coach was in a mood, and when Chanyeol missed an easy two-pointer during practice, he got an earful and a directive to do as many laps around the court as necessary until his brain understood the basic concepts of the sport he had been recruited to play.

After practice, Chanyeol threw his towel at his locker and sat on the bench, head in his hands and trying to figure out why he’d been struggling the last couple of games. As much as he’d like to blame being on the road, he had managed to have some of his best games when not in their home court.

“Don’t let it get to you,” one of his teammates said, patting his back as he walked by.

He wanted to not let it get to him, but every time he screwed up in front of his teammates and coach, Chanyeol had this fear that he would be back at square one and trying to convince everyone that he earned his spot in the starting five.

He let out a large frustrated sigh and got up to shower and change, and then he headed home.

The smell of pizza and the sound of a K-drama on TV greeted him as he walked in and he headed over to the entertainment area of their home to greet her first. Their home had been designed by his dad, who had decided that only one shared space was needed for a living room, entertainment room, and kitchen, all in a harmonious open space with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and sliding glass doors with an incredible view of the Pacific Ocean.

“How was practice?” she asked him with a smile, “There’s pizza in the kitchen.”

“Practice was practice,” he said, and he went to the kitchen to find five boxes of pizza. He narrowed his eyes and looked around, attempting to figure out why his mom would have ordered so much pizza.

He put a few slices on a plate and grabbed a bottle of soda out of the fridge then joined her, sitting beside her on the couch and eating a whole slice before finally asking about the pizza.

“Sehunnie has a school project he has to work on all night, so I told him I’d get him all the pizza he needed to help him with it,” she said.

“Sounds like he’s pulling an all-nighter,” Chanyeol smirked.

“He gets it from your father,” she stated as she picked up her glass of wine from the coffee table and took a sip.

“I meant… not that he was being a workaholic,” Chanyeol tried to explain, but then dropped it, knowing she probably wouldn’t get it.

He watched some of the K-drama with her until he finished all his pizza, then he went to put his plate away and to go upstairs to check up on his little brother.

“I heard you procrastinated on a project and are now trying to get it done in one night,” Chanyeol said, tapping on the door and then letting himself in.

Sehun looked up from his laptop and smiled.

“Hey, how was practice?”

“It was practice,” Chanyeol said, flopping down on Sehun’s bed and pulling out his phone. “What’s your assignment about?”

“We’re doing presentations on the Great Depression and mine’s on iconic photographs of the era.”

“That sounds riveting,” Chanyeol teased as he scrolled through some missed messages on his phone.

“It’s actually interesting,” Sehun said. “But I might need like five more Red Bulls to finish. What happened at practice?”

Chanyeol let out a soft sigh, sitting up to look toward his little brother who was too intuitive for his own good. Their differences were far more than their likenesses, as the only thing they both seemed to have inherited from their mother was her sensibilities, but everything else seemed to have come from their respective dads, which explained Sehun’s gift for intuition and Chanyeol’s complete lack of it.

“It was just a tough one,” Chanyeol said, focusing on the Depression-era photo on Sehun’s laptop.

“Washington’s defense is ranked first in the Pac-12 this year,” Sehun told him, “You did the best you could against them.”

Chanyeol smiled and looked at Sehun.

“Thanks, Coach,” Chanyeol teased him.

“I know you’re beating yourself up, but those were tough games. All the ESPN analysts agreed that the games were the most exciting so far for the Pac-12 because of how evenly matched you both were.”

“If we were evenly matched, then we should have won,” Chanyeol sighed. “I don’t know why I’ve been off the past week. I just need to practice more I guess.”

“Practicing more won’t change anything if the problem’s in your head,” Sehun pointed out. “You’re probably overthinking it. Just remember you like playing basketball.”

Chanyeol smiled and got up just to rub his head and say, “I do. I will.”

He left Sehun to work on his assignment and headed to his own room, now flopping onto his own bed and thinking again about what was causing him to play so badly. He wasn’t the type to get intimidated by other teams no matter their stats or ESPN analyst comments. Chanyeol had a philosophy of going into each game ready to do his best no matter what. His competitive nature made him quick on his feet and able to adjust strategies in a split second. He liked to impress, and when he wasn’t impressing, that’s when he felt out of his element.

Sehun was right. He was overthinking it.

***

Whenever Chanyeol needed to unwind or get his mind off things, he got lost in the world of music, whether that was in his own room on his laptop remixing songs and creating new sounds, or in the music building on campus where he’d get lost playing the piano over a sample beat he had created on his laptop.

The scholarship to play basketball had been a dream come true, getting admitted into the competitive music program at USC had been the cherry on top and Chanyeol knew that his skills were to thank for that. It didn’t, however, escape his knowledge that a number of his fellow students thought that both of those things had been handed to him due to his father’s money and clout. So, he found himself working harder to prove himself, to show that these were his passions and he lived and breathed them as much as they did.

“I like it. I could see myself on the dance floor,” Baekhyun said, and Chanyeol looked over his shoulder and smiled at his best friend and, now, fellow music major since he was back from his trip and had finally enrolled. Chanyeol had been over the moon when Baekhyun had called him to give him the news.

“Let me tone it down then. Wouldn’t want you embarrassing yourself.”

Baekhyun pretended to be affronted then took a seat on the piano bench next to him, never one to worry about personal space or invading someone else’s.

“So did Jisoo tell you about Jennie’s birthday party this weekend?” Baekhyun asked him.

“The one happening the night of our game against Stanford? What about it?”

“Are you planning on going after the game?”

“I already told her I’d be celebrating our victory in bed, by myself, sleeping.”

Baekhyun chuckled and played some notes. Chanyeol always loved how effortless Baekhyun made playing look, whereas Chanyeol found that he didn’t have the delicateness that playing often seemed to require. He usually felt more comfortable on the drums or on a guitar, but this particular melody that had been floating through his head had felt intended for a piano.

“I told her the same. Well, not about the victory, but in general,” Baekhyun remarked.

Chanyeol eyed Baekhyun for a moment, then cocked his head.

“You? Miss an event with free drinks and food?” Chanyeol asked him.

“I don’t want to miss your game,” Baekhyun said with a cheesy smile. “Plus, I was kind of hoping that you’d be inspired to do something else that night.”

“Like?” Chanyeol seemed intrigued, already sensing that Baekhyun had a musical proposition.

“There’s this open mic night happening in Studio City.”

“Let’s do it,” Chanyeol said, not needing to hear more. “What song are you thinking?”

“You sure you won’t be too tired after your game?”

“I’ll be pumped up on adrenaline after my game. It’s perfect timing,” Chanyeol said, grabbing his laptop to scroll through song options. “You always do a good job with the Bruno Mars songs. You do the showy thing well.”

“I was thinking something a bit more mellow for this one,” Baekhyun said, leaning in to look at the list. “I’m in the mood to show off some of my new vocal techniques I’ve been learning. Maybe we can do something old school?”

“How old school?” Chanyeol said pulling up a different playlist. “Like Chris Brown old school? JT old school?”

“Let’s scroll through,” Baekhyun said.

They spent a good amount of time trying to pick the right song but got kicked out of the practice room by the next person that had reserved it for the next block of time, so they made plans to work on the arrangement at Baekhyun’s dorm room later that night.

***

Their game against Utah had a lot of buzz surrounding it, but not as much buzz as it would have, had they beat Washington right before. Now the narrative that had been set up by the commentators was one of the team having to prove that they were still contenders for the Pac-12 title. Chanyeol intended on proving that they were.

During warm-ups on the court, Chanyeol stretched and noticed the arena filling up, looking toward the usual spot where his family sat and spotting his parents and Sehun. They were all decked out in their USC gear and his mom had a flag that she kept waving toward the camera that was currently filming their Coach who was being interviewed by one of the ESPN reporters. He smiled to himself then worked on some passing drills with the team before shooting some layups to make sure he had them under control.

His favorite part of home games was the excitement and cheers that came with the team’s introduction, and his most favorite part of that favorite part was when they announced his name and his position as the starting shooting guard while the arena cheered for him and him alone.

He loved attention, and the fact that he got it while doing something he loved made him the luckiest guy in the world. He knew it. He loved it. And he lived it.

With his confidence boosted and the game clock started, Chanyeol took to the court with his team and ran through some easy plays against Utah to start, but Utah seemed to have some tricks of their own, and when the ball was stolen straight out of their power forward’s hands, Chanyeol turned up the speed to block what the opponent thought would be an easy stolen shot.

The crowd cheered, and Chanyeol felt electrified, turning it on even more, anticipating moves and sinking the majority of his own shots with ease. By the time the first quarter ended, they were ahead by ten and Chanyeol felt they had a good momentum going.

“You’re killing it,” Minseok said giving him his water bottle and rubbing his shoulders.

Their coach crouched in front of Chanyeol and said, “They’re trying to attack you from inside when you shoot. You need to keep an eye on that.” Chanyeol nodded at him and took another sip of his water bottle as Coach moved on to talk to their point guard.

Chanyeol peeked over his shoulder to ask Minseok if he could add more water to the bottle when he spotted a bright red hoodie that stood out from all of the cardinal red T-shirts and hoodies around him.

Minseok grabbed the bottle from him to refill it, and Chanyeol kept his eyes trained on the guy from his class, needing to confirm that it was him. But who else would it be? Those doe eyes were hard to forget.

“Park, keep that defensive energy up,” Coach said to him, and Chanyeol tuned back in and assured him he would.

He did keep it up, as well as the shots, and they managed to keep their lead over Utah to the very end. It was a much-needed win for the team, and a much-more-needed win for him.

***

Usually when Chanyeol woke up for breakfast in his own home instead of his dorm, he threw eggs and veggies with some protein powder into a blender, poured his concoction in a travel mug, and sped out to get to class on time. But on this morning following their win, he was greeted to a full breakfast spread with his parents and brother already around the table digging in.

“Why are you people up this early?” he asked as he sat with them and reached for the platter of eggs to serve himself.

“We’re celebrating your win,” his mother said, “And we’re also having a family breakfast before your father leaves for his business trip.”

“How long are you gone for?” Chanyeol asked his dad.

“Hopefully just a few days,” he answered as he reached with his fork to the bacon plate to grab a few more strips. “I have to check up on some of our properties in San Francisco.”

“San Fran?” Chanyeol said, “Are you taking mom?”

“I’ve taken her before. She doesn’t like it,” his dad said.

“It’s too cold,” his mother said as she handed Chanyeol the bowl of kimchi. “I prefer accompanying him on his trips to Cabo and Tulum.”

Chanyeol took it and added some of the kimchi to his plate, then looked over at Sehun and asked, “How did your presentation go?”

“Good. I got an A.”

“Why didn’t you get an A+?” his mother asked, stirring her kimchi and eggs around her plate so they mixed together.

“Oh,” Sehun said, “I did. I got 100.”

“Then say you got 100,” his mother said. “Always be proud of your excellence. Never be afraid to brag.”

“It’s true,” Chanyeol agreed. “I brag all the time.”

“As you should,” his mother nodded. “You both should. You’re both great at what you do, and people should know.”

“I don’t see the harm in Sehunnie letting his work speak for itself,” his father interjected, and Sehun smiled at him. “His humility shows his excellence as well. Also, in this way, he doesn’t burden others who may not be at his level.”

“No, that’s dumb,” Chanyeol said, “Brag about it. People should know they’re not on your level.”

Sehun chuckled at Chanyeol then said to his mother, “I’ll brag to you next time, but I probably won’t brag to others.”

“Fine,” she said with a warm smile. “Brag to me all you like. I want to hear you be proud of your accomplishments.”

“Okay, mom,” Sehun said with a nod and a smile.

Chanyeol dropped Sehun off at school since it was along the way and told him to go achieve great things and then brag about it. Sehun gave him an amused smile and waved bye as he left the car and headed into the large public high school that Chanyeol had rather fond memories of attending.

Growing up in Malibu had a lot of perks, the best one probably being getting to live with a view of the ocean and getting to attend a school that was practically on the beach. It was part of the reason why he had a hard time bothering to stay in his dorm on campus. Chanyeol felt landlocked when he wasn’t within viewing distance of the ocean. The only thing that had kept him from applying to Pepperdine for college was their lack of a big-time NCAA basketball program, otherwise, he was pretty sure he never would have left the area he had grown up in.

***

The more Chanyeol and Baekhyun practiced for the open mic night, the more Chanyeol felt that they had really stumbled upon something magical.

“This arrangement really works for your tone and the feel it evokes,” Chanyeol said, grasping for his water bottle he had left on Baekhyun’s desk in his dorm.

“This arrangement is unreal,” Baekhyun agreed, sitting on the floor of his dorm room as he practiced singing it. He had let Chanyeol sit on his bed with his keyboard instead. Baekhyun’s roommate was never around, which always made it easy to hang out at his place, and Chanyeol preferred hanging out there instead of his own dorm room anyway.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun had been friends for a long time, thanks to their moms being friends. And since they went to different schools their whole lives, most of their time spent together was over the summer when they were on summer vacation. It had been Chanyeol who had convinced Baekhyun to come to USC for college, telling him he needed the company.

Unlike Baekhyun, who had tons of friends, Chanyeol had very few people he considered close enough to call a real friend. Baekhyun was one of them.

“Seriously, Yeollie,” Baekhyun told him, giving him a sincere look, “I know you’re obsessed with this whole basketball thing, but I think your true calling has always been music.”

“My true calling is both,” Chanyeol told him. “You just want me to give up basketball so that we can start a band together.”

“We’re meant to be in a band together,” Baekhyun playfully whined. “It’s why the universe made us meet each other.”

“I need to have a word with the universe,” Chanyeol joked.

Baekhyun would have retorted if there hadn’t been a knock on the door.

“Your roommate?” Chanyeol asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Possibly,” Baekhyun said as he got up from the floor to answer it. “Wouldn’t be the first time he lost his key.”

Baekhyun opened the door and started to mention something but was quieted when he was suddenly pushed backward by a girl who had her lips on his in a rather aggressive manner.

Chanyeol snorted because, honestly, these things only happened to Baekhyun. But then he realized who the girl was, and he said, “Jisoo?”

Jisoo heard her name and stopped kissing Baekhyun enough to look over and scream. Baekhyun screamed too. Chanyeol screamed to make fun of them.

“What is he doing here?” Jisoo asked Baekhyun.

“I go to school here. What are _you_ doing here?” Chanyeol asked Jisoo instead.

“What are any of us doing here?” Baekhyun shrugged. “Let’s go get tacos.”

“Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” Jisoo said, shoving Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over?” Baekhyun asked, shoving her shoulder back.

“Why did you attack him when you came in?” Chanyeol asked Jisoo, not close enough to either of them to shove shoulders.

“No reason,” Jisoo snapped at him, and Baekhyun laughed.

“We’re practicing for my open mic,” Baekhyun told her. “And you should have let me know you were coming.”

Jisoo sighed and then sat on the bed and shoved Chanyeol’s shoulder for good measure.

“Why don’t you return my calls, you punk?” she asked Chanyeol, looking at the keyboard and then at the laptop on the floor as if to confirm that they really were practicing.

“I’ve been busy. I didn’t see you at my game,” he said, finally able to shove her shoulder back.

Chanyeol and Jisoo had also known each other since middle school, and had also parted ways in high school, but had also managed to stay friends, mostly because their families were good friends as well.

“I’ve been busy,” she taunted back, reaching down to pick up the laptop. “You’re doing a Selena Gomez song for your open mic?” She raised an eyebrow at Baekhyun.

“Yeah, you wanna hear it?” Baekhyun said, always one to get excited when he was allowed to perform and show off for someone.

Jisoo waved for him to go ahead, and Chanyeol started playing his arrangement of “Good for You,” the song already sultry, but Chanyeol had given it a slightly darker feel to go with Baekhyun’s tone and rasp to make it both sultry and haunting. It came together so well that Chanyeol got goosebumps while he played and listened, and when they finished, Chanyeol looked at Jisoo for her reaction.

“Yeollie,” she said.

“Yeah?” Chanyeol replied.

“You know I love you, but I need your ass to leave this room right now.”

“What? Why?”

And then Chanyeol noticed the look on her face and the way Baekhyun was smirking at her and Chanyeol left them to their… well whatever it was they thought they were doing together. It didn’t make sense to him because in all the years he had known them, he never had thought they’d be into each other like that. But what did he know? He was pretty clueless when it came to those types of things.

***

There was a lot riding on the game against Stanford and, as Chanyeol warmed up with the team on the court, he tried to get his mind in full focus. He checked the stands for his family, finding them in their usual spot, and then he looked around for the bright red hoodie but didn’t see it anywhere in the crowd. He huddled with his team and hyper-focused on the game ahead of them.

They got off to a good start, but Stanford got off to a more aggressive start, and Chanyeol found himself at the line more than usual getting his foul shots in. By the time they reached the half, they were down by six and they sat in their locker room as Coach tried to fire them up. Chanyeol had a feeling that drawing fouls was going to be their best strategy, but Coach wanted them to fight back more, so that’s what they tried to do.

But Stanford didn’t manage to lose steam, and Chanyeol decided to go with his own strategy of drawing fouls and making it a point to sink the shots he got out of them. It wasn’t enough in the end. He knew he’d get an earful from Coach in the locker room, but he didn’t care. He took the court each time with the intention of winning, which was how he had ended up the highest scorer of the game even with the loss.

He felt his arm grabbed by one of the ESPN handlers and the next thing he knew he was facing a camera with a reporter shoving a mic in his face. He wasn’t usually the one that got to do this after the game, the honors usually going to their point guard after a win, but every time he did get to be on camera, it brightened his mood, even after a loss like this.

“We will have to make adjustments,” Chanyeol said, “We had a lot of good plays, and we’ll review today’s game and be ready for the next one.”

“What about Stanford’s defense?” the reporter asked. “This was the most you were at the foul line all season.”

Chanyeol knew that was a trap question, and he knew there were many ways for it to be properly or catastrophically answered, but Chanyeol was Chanyeol, and even if he hadn’t grown up with his real father, he couldn’t deny that the politician’s blood ran through him.

“I needed foul line practice so I’m glad I got it,” he said with a smirk, and the reporter laughed and threw it back to the studio.

Chanyeol figured he’d get an earful from Coach for that one as well, but he didn’t care. He wanted to watch back the footage and hoped he didn’t look too sweaty in HD.

As he walked toward the locker room, he caught a glimpse of Coach looking toward him, and then Coach shook his head with an unbelieving smile, and Chanyeol tried to keep back his own laugh, grateful that he probably wouldn’t get reamed out after all.

***

Losing the game gave Chanyeol the perfect final excuse for Jisoo to finally let it go that he wasn’t stopping by Jennie’s birthday party.

 _She’s my least favorite of your friends._ Chanyeol told her in their WhatsApp chat. _If it was Lisa, I’d make an effort._

 _Dick._ She replied. _Anyway, don’t go on stage until I get there. I can’t leave the party early._

 _We’ll see what we can do._ He told her, then headed to the 24-hour café that was hosting the open mic night.

Baekhyun was waiting for him, and he gave him a reassuring hug upon sight.

“Eh, Stanford sucks, and they cheated the whole game,” Baekhyun told him, patting his back.

“Did you see my interview? Did I look good?”

“Oh, you got interviewed?” Baekhyun asked surprised. “I left before the game ended so I could make sure and get here to add us to the list. It’s a long list, so we’re toward the end.”

“Good, that works out,” Chanyeol told him as they headed inside the bustling café, dodging servers delivering plates of tacos and flatbread pizzas to tables. “Jisoo can’t come until later because of the party.”

“No one told her to be friends with the princess of Buena Park,” Baekhyun joked.

Chanyeol snickered at the nickname, which they all knew Jennie hated, so they never used it in front of her. Buena Park had always only ever been known for being where Knott’s Berry Farm was, but Jennie’s dad, who was a developer, had decided that it’d be a great location to build a mall and an entertainment complex directly targeted to the Korean-American community that lived there, which is why the nickname had been born. 

They miraculously found a table for two not far from the tiny platform that was being used for a stage in the corner. They took turns ordering food and drinks at the counter so that someone stayed at the table to not lose it, and once the food was brought to their table, Chanyeol started on his tacos first, having ordered that and a burger since he was ravenous after the game.

“So, what exactly is going on between you and Jisoo?” Chanyeol finally asked Baekhyun.

“Nothing really,” Baekhyun shrugged, taking a sip of his hot lemon tea with honey. “We’re just having some casual fun.”

“I’ve always heard it’s not good to be friends with benefits,” Chanyeol mentioned.

“Good thing we’re not friends,” Baekhyun teased, and Chanyeol laughed. “No, it really is casual though. She asked me to keep her from being bored at one of her friend’s parties and we’ve been hooking up since then, but I think this is her way of coping with losing her boyfriend to college.”

“He’s a dick for breaking up with her for that,” Chanyeol said, never having liked the guy anyway. “But she deserves better. She’ll find someone.”

“She will,” Baekhyun agreed.

“And you will too,” Chanyeol pointed out, knowing it would make Baekhyun laugh. Baekhyun liked to pretend he wasn’t interested in relationships, but Chanyeol knew that a lot of Baekhyun’s relationship insecurities came from problems between his parents.

He had remembered his parents discussing the latest gossip regarding Baekhyun’s family. And while his own parents weren’t close with his, they did run in a lot of the same business and social circles. Chanyeol felt bad for Baekhyun, thinking it wasn’t fair that he had to deal with the gossip, but Baekhyun seemed to always handle it in stride, focusing on his own goals and making sure he had a good time in the process. Chanyeol really admired Baekhyun for it.

“What I’m going to find,” Baekhyun responded with a confident smile, “is a record deal, a number one album, a world tour, and more fans than I’ll know what to do with.”

“Maybe Selena Gomez herself will want to collab,” Chanyeol played along.

“I happen to know that Queen Selena frequents this café, hence why I made sure we were here and not at Jennie’s birthday party.”

“Look at you,” Chanyeol said, impressed yet again by Baekhyun’s ambition, “Did your research and everything. No wonder you picked that song.”

“Even if she’s not here tonight,” Baekhyun pointed out after another sip of his tea, “A lot of her friends are regulars. It’ll get back to her.”

“Let’s make sure to put it on your YouTube channel so she can like it.”

“Already ahead of you. I told Jisoo she has to make it in time to film it. If she doesn’t, I’m leaving her out of my Grammy acceptance speech.”

“Seems fair,” Chanyeol nodded, and he looked around while working on his burger now, scanning for either Selena Gomez or Jisoo.

Chanyeol was able to order another round of tacos for himself and more tea for Baekhyun by the time it was finally their turn. Jisoo arrived right in time, sitting at their table and wishing them luck as she took out her phone to film it.

Baekhyun had greeted the crowd enthusiastically as soon as he got to the mic and warmed them up with some of his random comments that got some laughs. Once Chanyeol had his keyboard plugged in and set up, he gave a nod to Baekhyun who then introduced Chanyeol and then the song, which was Chanyeol’s cue to start playing.

The café crowd paid attention and loved it. Chanyeol noticed many of them stop eating to watch, mesmerized by Baekhyun’s natural performance magnetism. When he was done, he got the loudest applause of the night, and Baekhyun thanked them and told them to check out the encore on his YouTube, which got more laughs from the café patrons.

Chanyeol couldn’t explain the high he felt from having done the performance, nor the high that he felt from people coming up to him after to ask him about his arrangement.

The only thing that would have made the night more perfect would have been if they had beat Stanford.


	3. Chapter 3

Jongin stared at Jennie in her floor-length bright red Gucci dress. The slit that went up the front left side showed off her leg and silver heels that sparkled under the light, and the earrings that dangled from her ears matched their shine. The fact that she looked stunning was no surprise to him, but the fact that her smile was so wide that her cheeks puffed out as if she was a chipmunk made her look adorable. And that was what Jongin was currently smiling about as he stared at her while sitting on the bed of the master bedroom in the Airbnb that had been rented for her party.

“I am screaming,” Jisoo, one of Jennie’s best friends, said as she stood back to assess the overall look. “I knew it was going to look perfect on you, but I still want to scream about it.”

“I’m screaming too,” Jongin teased, and Jennie laughed.

But then she asked him, “You like it, right?”

“I love it,” he assured her because how could he not? It hugged her curves in a sexy way, and Jongin knew that she had spent a lot of time trying to pick out exactly the right dress for her nineteenth birthday celebration.

“Everyone’s going to love it,” Jisoo told her as she moved behind her to fix the large soft curls they had created for the bottom of her hair. “Everyone’s going to love you.”

“Just what you needed,” Lisa said, sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room as she scrolled through her phone, “More people to love you.”

“I have to compete with the whole world,” Jongin said with a fake pout.

“They can compete with you all they want,” Jennie said, “But I’ll just be looking at you.”

“Did I go to sleep and wake up in a Taylor Swift song?” Lisa said, looking a little disturbed.

“I wish my life was a Taylor Swift song,” Jennie said with a small pout.

“You would,” Jisoo said with a laugh. “Anyway, people are going to start arriving soon, so let’s finish your makeup.”

Jennie’s parents had booked an Airbnb for two nights, the first night for the party, the following day for the inevitable cleanup of the mini mansion that sat nestled in the Hollywood Hills. It was set apart enough from the other homes to hopefully allow them to be as loud as they wanted without neighbors calling in cops to a party that would involve a lot of underage people drinking.

As Jongin and Lisa headed downstairs to make sure nothing had been overlooked, Jongin thought about how insane it was that this party was even happening in the first place.

“I still can’t believe her parents are okay with all of this,” Jongin said to Lisa. He walked over to the kegs of beer and shifted them closer to the table. “My parents would have killed me for even asking.”

“Jennie’s parents give their little princess anything she wants,” Lisa explained. “You’ll learn that the longer you’re with her. They spoil her in ways that don’t even make sense. It’s part of why my parents hate her parents and don’t like that I’m friends with her.”

“So then…” Jongin said as he stood up straight to see if he needed to shift them more, “why are you friends with her?”

“She shared her gummy bears with me in third grade. Isn’t that how all friendships begin?” Lisa asked with a teasing smile.

“It is,” Jongin said with a laugh. “I remember Jongdae sharing his Oreos with me in second grade. We discovered we were both Kims while we ate them and decided we were brothers for life.”

“He seems like the giving type,” she said, very interested in the story, and Jongin chuckled at her.

“Jongdae is the nicest guy in the world,” Jongin told her. “If you hurt him, I will make sure Jennie never gives you a gummy bear ever again.”

Lisa gasped in mock horror and then laughed and pushed some strands of her long light brown hair behind her ear.

“We’ve only been on one date,” she said, “Still too early to tell if he’s worth losing gummy bears over.”

“He said it went well. He’s looking forward to your next one,” Jongin went ahead and told her, and he smiled as she pushed her hair behind her ear again, even though it hadn’t fallen out of place or warranted it.

“I might be looking forward to it too,” she mumbled, reaching into a box to pull out red plastic cups.

He couldn’t hide the amused grin on his face as he busied himself with putting the bags of ice in the freezer, or as many as he could fit given the size.

But then he lost the amused grin as he thought about what Lisa had said about Jennie’s parents. He knew that his own parents wouldn’t care much for them either, and while it hadn’t mattered much before, now that he and Jennie were getting a bit more serious, he knew that at some point he’d have to start giving them more information about her.

When Lisa had first introduced them, he had thought Jennie was cute and charming, and she made him laugh, which he instantly had loved. He tried to take it slow and keep it casual, heeding the warning of his friends that maybe he shouldn’t rush into things after his breakup with Krystal, but at some point, he realized that he really loved being around Jennie, and he decided to go all in. Lucky for him, she had wanted to go all in too.

So here he was, helping out with her nineteenth birthday party and thinking that Krystal would never have ever done anything this insane for hers.

***

The party-goers came in waves, Jennie’s closest and dearest friends arriving first to give her presents they wanted to be opened right away, and then school friends and general acquaintances, and soon people who knew people who had heard about the party started filling up the space.

Jongin stayed near Jennie’s side for most of the night until Jongdae and Kyungsoo thankfully showed up. He knew Jongdae would come since it’d give him an excuse to hang out with Lisa again, but he hadn’t been sure if Kyungsoo would arrive with him, so when he saw him, he immediately grabbed a beer and put it in his hand, then gave him a big hug.

“I thought you’d bail,” Jongin explained.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” Kyungsoo deadpanned.

“Because how often do you get to party in a rented mansion?” Jongdae asked him. “Live it up. This might be the only time this ever happens to us.”

“He makes a good point,” Jongin told him, but Kyungsoo still didn’t look too impressed as he drank his beer. “Either way, I invited a lot of people from the dance studio,” Jongin made sure to let Kyungsoo know. “Some that might even be your type.”

“And hopefully legal,” Jongdae pointed out, still not letting Jongin forget about his birthday party. “Oh god, wait,” Jongdae said looking around. “Is the jailbait here?”

“Rosé?” Jongin asked to make sure. “I saw her earlier with some of her high school friends. I thought I overheard Jisoo say something about her having a boyfriend so you might be off the hook.”

“I was never on the hook,” Jongdae pointed out with a finger waved in his direction.

Jongin laughed and then they were joined by Jennie, who appeared to have glided over in that red dress of hers.

“You guys came!” she said excited to see them, and then she looked at Kyungsoo and said, “I was telling Jongin that since our birthdays are all just days apart, next year we should do one big celebration of them altogether.”

Kyungsoo didn’t even blink and said, “Let’s not.”

Jongin laughed and put his arms around Kyungsoo’s shoulders to give him a squeeze as he looked at Jennie, “Soo is really particular about his birthday.”

“Oh,” Jennie said, nodding in understanding. “Okay, well maybe next year we can plan them so that they’re on the same day, and we can make it an all-day event and each third of the day can be devoted to each person. That would be kind of fun.”

“Babe, you deserve your own birthday,” Jongin said, letting go of Kyungsoo before he could be rude again. “Why would you share your birthday when you deserve to wear Gucci and be celebrated for a whole day?” He snuggled her in a teasing way that made her laugh.

“I did like spoiling you on your day,” she agreed. “Okay, we’ll keep them separate.”

“You are so good at this,” Jongdae said to Jongin, with narrowed eyes as he shook his head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jongin said, feigning ignorance as he took Jennie’s hand, “Let’s go find your champagne so you can have some with your cake.” He led her away from them, snickering as Jongdae laughed.

It took them a few moments to make it to the champagne, Jennie being stopped by her friends for selfies and compliments along the way. But they did make it to the table and Jongin grabbed one of the bottles that was already open to pour some into a clear plastic champagne flute.

“I thought the birthday thing would have been cute,” Jennie told him as she watched him.

“I’ve told you Kyungsoo’s shy,” Jongin tried to explain. “His idea of fun is sitting in his room watching movie marathons on his laptop.”

“Oh, right,” Jennie said nodding. “I just really want your friends to like me. I know they liked your ex so…”

Jongin put the bottle down and took her hand instead. He looked into her eyes, loving the little glitter effect that Jisoo had managed to give her eyelashes.

“I like you. That’s all that matters, right?”

Jennie smiled at him and nodded, and Jongin gave her a small kiss for the confirmation, which made her smile even more.

He knew that Jennie was the type of person that needed everyone to like her. He couldn’t relate, nor could his friends for that matter, but he had learned that pretty early on about her and had it confirmed by Lisa once when he had asked her directly if that was the case.

“So, if she needs everyone to like her…” Jongin had asked Lisa during a break in between dance classes at the studio they both went to, “Then what makes it different if I like her? Like, as her boyfriend, is my opinion weighted differently?”

“I don’t know,” Lisa admitted to him. “I often wonder that about being considered one of her closest friends. What does that mean in her world when she has so many friends and talks to them all sometimes more than me? I can tell you though that her last boyfriend dumped her because he didn’t know either, so if that’s going to be a problem for you then you might as well end it before it goes anywhere.”

He had decided it wouldn’t be a problem, mostly by taking opportunities to make her confirm that his opinion did hold more weight than that of others. At least that’s what he thought he was doing. Sometimes, he had to admit that he couldn’t be sure.

His thoughts and their moment were interrupted by Jennie’s youngest “closest” friend Rosé, who was no longer grounded, but probably would be again after tonight when her parents figured out that she was at another party. Jennie hugged her and Jongin noticed the high school student standing next to her and instantly recognized him.

“Hey!” Jongin said to Sehun. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Same,” Sehun said, looking surprised as well. “Rosé invited me.”

“You guys know each other?” Jennie and Rosé both asked them simultaneously.

“He comes into the dance studio sometimes,” Jongin told them, “How’s your dance team doing?”

“Okay,” Sehun said with a small, shy shrug. “We have another competition coming up soon, so that’s why I haven’t been by the studio for a while.”

“I know how that goes,” Jongin nodded. “Dance team practice can be brutal. Stay hydrated and make sure and stretch before and after.”

Sehun nodded at him and began to say that he would when Jisoo joined them out of nowhere and pointed at him.

“Wait,” Jisoo said, looking at him confused.

“Oh, hey, Jisoo,” Sehun said with a small wave and a smile, and then he looked suddenly confused and said, “Wait. Why are you here?”

Jisoo looked at Rosé and said, “This is your new boyfriend?”

“What? No, we’re just friends,” Rosé said, looking up at Sehun for confirmation.

Sehun seemed to nod in return unsure of why he was giving confirmation.

“Wait, why do you know Rosé’s new boyfriend?” Jennie asked Jisoo.

“We’re just friends,” Rosé reiterated.

“He’s my best friend’s little brother,” Jisoo pointed out, and they all looked equally surprised and disbelieving.

“How did you meet Jisoo’s best friend’s little brother?” Jongin asked Rosé, amused by all of this.

“At school?” Rosé shrugged, and she looked at Sehun, “Why didn’t you tell me you were Jisoo’s best friend’s little brother?”

“I didn’t know you knew Jisoo,” Sehun told her, and Jongin busted out laughing because this was an all too familiar scene he had gone through before. Every time he thought that he had met everyone in their social circles, something like this happened.

“Well, this is Jennie,” Rosé ended up finally telling Sehun, “It’s her birthday party. And this is Jongin her new boyfriend, who you already know.”

“I’m not that new…” Jongin let trail off.

“Speaking of your brother,” Jisoo said to Sehun as she checked her phone, “I’m going to have to leave soon to meet up with him.”

“Give him a big hug and tell him he played a great game,” Sehun told her.

“No, I’m going to smack him for losing,” Jisoo told him instead, and Sehun chuckled. She left them to head out, and Jongin poured more champagne in plastic flutes for the two high schoolers.

“Don’t you kids have curfews?” Jongin asked them as he handed them their glasses.

“Shut up, dad,” Rosé said, and she took Sehun’s hand and led them both away from him and Jennie.

Jongin chuckled and noticed Jennie looking at them fondly. She then turned her attention to Jongin and said, “Sehun is really good looking. I’m glad Rosé found someone like him.”

“Only the best for you and your friends, right?” Jongin said, pulling her into him.

“Right,” she said, and this time she was the one to give him a kiss.

***

The music started, and Jongin went into fluid motion, doing his turn and dropping to one knee just as the singer leaned back into his arms. It was the easiest part of the dance routine, but the one that made him the most nervous because if for any reason he dropped the singer, he was sure her management, record company, and fans would all find him and have him killed.

What annoyed him most about it was that he was executing his parts perfectly fine, but they kept having to do it over and over because the singer didn’t like her facial expressions enough in the playback. At one point, her manager took her to the side to try and calm her and assure her that her facials were fine. Jongin took the much-needed break to drink some water, do some leg stretches, and check his phone messages.

There seemed to be activity in the Jongas Brothers group chat, the name obviously his and Jongdae’s idea because they weren’t the type to pass up the opportunity for such a great and cheesy pun. Kyungsoo had told them he shouldn’t be in it, but they told him he was an honorary Jong and often times called him Jongsoo to tease him.

_Kyungsoo: Someone help me. I’m dying a slow and painful death in this class._

_Jongdae: No one told you to take boring classes this semester._

_Kyungsoo: This professor needs to be sued for having a voice that puts people to sleep._

_Jongdae: I’m painting my fellow art student’s boob right now. Can’t relate._

_Kyungsoo: YOU’RE WHAT?!_

_Jongdae: She asked me to. She’s doing a performance piece._

_Kyungsoo: I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s a known statistic that art students are the freakiest._

_Jongdae: :D_

_Kyungsoo: Ew. Anyway, I’m dead now. Make sure and play that one Eric Benet song at my funeral._

_Jongdae: Sorry, can’t hear you. I have melodrama on mute._

_Kyungsoo: You’re no longer invited to my funeral._

_Jongdae: Bless. I was trying to figure out a way to get out of it._

_Kyungsoo: …_

Jongin snorted and texted them that they were both dumb, and then he put his phone back in his backpack since the singer was ready for another take.

While Jongin didn’t particularly envy his best friends for being stuck in classes, he did miss the days of them going to school together and always hanging out. This first year out of high school had been hard in many ways, but the hardest had been not having the constant of seeing them on a day to day basis.

It’s not like he had wanted to grow up and start adulting, but his dancing career managed to take off unexpectedly just as he had started senior year after a casting agent had come into the dance studio looking for people for a music video. He had liked Jongin’s dancing, but he had liked his look better, and next thing Jongin knew, he was dancing in a video for a K-pop artist who had been filming their MV in Los Angeles.

Those were the types of jobs he thought he’d keep getting, but his agent managed to book him some pretty big deal jobs, which led to heftier contracts and more money than Jongin should’ve been making at 18. According to his sister anyway, who was the overprotective type and thought that she needed to act as his manager and look out for his finances for him.

Amusingly enough, Jongin’s father felt the same way and also designated himself his manager, which was how Jongin became probably the only dancer in LA with a two-person management team.

The shoot lasted so long that Jongin didn’t end up getting home until almost midnight, and as he quietly let himself in, he heard a TV on in the kitchen and a voice speaking.

Jongin dropped his backpack off in the living room then headed to the kitchen, knowing the voice belonged to his mother, who was on the phone talking to family back in Korea. He gave her a hug, which she gave him back while still talking to her sister, and Jongin headed to the fridge to make himself a snack to eat before he passed out from exhaustion.

“You’re home late,” his mom said after she had hung up.

Jongin had made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because he didn’t have the energy to make anything else and leaned against the kitchen counter eating it.

“The shoot went long.”

“Oh, I’m not surprised. The moment you said you were working with that diva…” she trailed off, waving her hand as if that explained the rest.

Jongin chuckled and let her know that she had actually been nice. “At least when she wasn’t being a perfectionist about her face,” he amended.

“Well, maybe she’ll take you on her world tour with you.”

“Maybe,” Jongin said, not one to get his hopes up. “How was your day?” he asked his mom back, almost done devouring his sandwich and contemplating making another one.

“You know how it is. Busy busy.”

Jongin did know how it was. His family ran a successful chain of restaurants called K Kitchen. When he was younger, they only had two located in two different parts of Koreatown, so his mother would run one while his father ran the other. Both restaurants did so well that an investor approached them about expanding and possibly franchising, which his parents decided to do. By the time he was in middle school, they had 13 restaurants all around LA and the OC, and even one that his parents had opened in Seoul.

Even though now his parents spent most of their time in their corporate office instead of in the restaurants themselves, he knew that they were busier than ever. His oldest sister Jonghee had followed his parents into the family business, which had taken the pressure off him and his other sister to do the same, so instead, they followed their dreams, for him dancing, for his sister running a dessert café instead.

“Then get some sleep soon,” he told her and gave her a squeezy hug as she told him to do the same.

Jongin grabbed his bag from the living room and headed upstairs to his room, tossing himself onto his bed without even bothering to remove his clothes. He checked his phone to see a text from Jennie that said she missed him and knew that he was working hard.

He smiled and texted her back that he was finally in bed and that he’d take her to lunch tomorrow after she was done with her morning classes.

She replied with a kissy face emoji and a series of hearts.

***

Unlike Jongdae and Kyungsoo who had chosen to go to a large private university, Jennie attended a small private university in the valley that had a great fashion design program. The campus was in the foothills of Burbank, and Jongin took in the incredible view of the hilly backdrop behind his girlfriend as she walked toward his car, looking straight out of an ad with her jeans, designer sweater, and sunglasses to complete the look.

He had waited for her outside and smiled as soon as he saw her. She greeted him with a long kiss before he opened the door for her so she could enter his car.

“Did you get a good night’s sleep last night?” she asked him as he drove them to a sushi place that they both liked in downtown Burbank.

“I did. My entire body was so exhausted that I passed out as soon as I finished texting you.”

“I bet. I can’t wait to see the video,” she said with a big smile. “Speaking of, have you seen the video from my party? Someone made a compilation from their Snapchat and put it on YouTube and it has so many views.”

Jongin froze and wasn’t sure for a moment how to reply to that. He ended up replying with honesty.

“Babe, I don’t think it’s a good idea for that to be online where anyone can see it.”

“No, it’s so fun. And it’s fine. They blurred out anyone who wasn’t them, so you can’t see who’s there.”

“Did they mention you in it?” Jongin couldn’t help but be concerned, but Jennie didn’t seem to think too much about the big picture when it came to these types of things.

“Only by first name? It’s fine. Why are you upset?”

“I’m not upset,” Jongin said, flashing her a quick small smile so she knew. “I just don’t want you or anyone else getting in trouble. If it shows underage drinking that could come back to you and your parents.”

“Oh,” she said, “I don’t think they showed that. They were mostly showing themselves dancing and doing… well maybe some drinking. I don’t think it’s a big deal though. I’m just happy everyone had fun. You had fun, right?”

“I did,” he assured her, reaching over to squeeze her knee and give her another smile.

She put her hand over his to squeeze it back as she smiled as well, and Jongin let the subject go, thinking that if she didn’t feel so concerned about it then maybe he shouldn’t be either.

***

Jongin hadn’t been kidding about trying to find Kyungsoo someone new to date. He sat on the floor of the dance studio and looked around at the other dancers that had shown up for this particular hip hop class. He had considered finding someone in his contemporary class, but none of them had seemed like Kyungsoo’s type, and Jongin had an idea of what his type was, mainly him, but a non-straight version.

“Why do we look like we’re on the prowl?” one of his oldest dance studio friends asked him. Taemin and he were the same age and had practically grown up together in dance studios all over the Southern California area. He never got to hang out with him too much outside of the studio since Taemin, having been a child prodigy, had been booked for gigs since practically birth. Most of his work took place in Korea where he had a short stint as a K-pop idol before his group disbanded. Now he did all kinds of solo work and had a rather impressive fan base.

“Jongdae has started seeing someone, so I need to get Kyungsoo someone before he starts getting emo about being the only one of us that doesn’t have someone.”

“Yeahhh,” Taemin said understanding, “You don’t want to go through that mess again.”

No, he didn’t. During sophomore year of high school, when Jongin was dating Krystal, Jongdae had suddenly started dating one of his church choir friends. Jongin had sort of seen it coming with how much Jongdae had been mentioning Wendy and how he would ramble on about how she killed a solo or how he couldn’t stop watching her sitting during service. And once Jongdae had made things official with Wendy, Kyungsoo felt left out.

By that point, both Jongin and Jongdae had figured out that girls weren’t Kyungsoo’s thing, and when he finally confirmed it for them, they made it their mission to find him a nice boy. But unbeknownst to them, Kyungsoo already was on his own mission. It was in the form of a crush that he had been having on a senior boy named Yixing, and Jongin remembered thinking even then that it wasn’t going to end well.

He sadly had been right.


	4. Chapter 4

It took one trip to a basketball game for Kyungsoo to remember where he had seen the tall guy in his class before. It had been Jongdae’s idea to go to the game, insisting that since they were both bored, they should just go across the street to the arena and pretend to be interested in sports in order to have something to do. Kyungsoo had agreed, mostly because he wanted to eat the nachos from the concession stands.

Once he saw him on the court, Kyungsoo had mentioned to Jongdae that number 10 was in his boring morning class.

“Wait,” Jongdae had said paying closer attention to him, “Don’t we know that guy?”

“I kept thinking he was familiar,” Kyungsoo had agreed.

Then, when they had announced his name while introducing the starting lineup, Kyungsoo and Jongdae had both said, “Malibu High!” in unison and looked at each other then laughed.

So, when Kyungsoo found himself in his boring morning class again, he decided to bring it up to the guy, since now he had a point of reference.

He waited for the tall guy to settle into his desk, dropping his backpack to the side of his chair and setting up his laptop to take notes.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo said, leaning toward his desk over his own so the guy knew that he had intended to get his attention.

Number 10 looked over at him and gave him a toothy, wide smile and said, “Hey” back, which gave Kyungsoo the confidence to continue interrupting him from preparing for class.

“Did you used to go to Malibu High?” Kyungsoo asked, thinking there was no way this wasn’t the same guy. He hadn’t run into too many super tall fellow Koreans growing up, especially with such expressive faces like this guy had.

“Yeah,” the guy said, now giving him a bigger smile, and then he asked, “Did you?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said, and the basketball player looked confused, his smile faltering just a bit, so Kyungsoo quickly explained, “Your school played mine a couple of times. You stood out because you were like the tallest Korean on the court.”

“Oh,” he said with an understanding nod, “Yeah. What school did you go to?”

“Woodbridge,” Kyungsoo told him, and the guy made a scrunchy face that made Kyungsoo smile wide for some reason, but then he chuckled, knowing why the basketball player would react in that way. “Yeah, sorry we beat you so badly at the playoffs.”

“Yeahhh,” he said, and he gave a side nod with his head and sighed. “I would’ve liked one championship game before I graduated, but it is what it is.”

“You were great though,” Kyungsoo said, and he really did remember thinking that this guy was the best player on his team.

“Thanks,” he said, and he pulled up a blank page on his laptop before turning a tiny bit to better face Kyungsoo, “So, are you a big basketball fan?”

“Me? No. I don’t do sports,” Kyungsoo waved with his hand to stress this point.

The basketball player looked at him confused again and said, “Oh, so… you go to games because?”

“My best friend always makes me go with him,” he told him with a small chuckle, amused again by the tall guy’s expressive reactions to everything he said. He had a passing thought that this wasn’t the type of guy that hid his feelings well. “For one reason or another. I think he secretly likes basketball but won’t flat out say it, so he comes up with lame excuses to go and drags me with him.”

At least he felt that was the only explanation for why Jongdae got into weird sports moods and would tell him they should check out a game. He knew Jongdae actually liked baseball, but he didn’t understand why he liked going to the soccer, football, and basketball games too.

“Oh,” he nodded, and then he seemed to hesitate before asking, “So, have you gone to any basketball games while you’ve been here in college?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo nodded, “We went to your game against… Iowa. I think? You were really good.”

The guy beamed and said, “Thanks. You should come to our next home game.”

“Uh…” Kyungsoo said and then laughed a little, “If I’m bored enough, I will.”

“No, you have to,” the guy insisted. “Unless you didn’t have fun?”

“I… uh…” Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how to reply exactly so he just laughed again and then compromised by saying, “We’ll see.”

“Okay, fair,” the guy nodded, and then he asked him, “What’s your name?”

“Kyungsoo,” he told him, “And I know your last name is Park from the game.”

“Chanyeol,” he introduced himself. “Chanyeol Park.”

“Kyungsoo Doh,” he went ahead and told him, and Chanyeol smiled really big again, which made Kyungsoo think that everything about the guy seemed big. Especially his ears, which reminded him of the elves from the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy.

“Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo Doh,” Chanyeol told him. “By any chance, do you have good notes for this class? Mine kinda suck.”

“Mine are probably worse,” he admitted. “School’s not really my thing, so I’m operating on bare minimum here.”

Chanyeol smirked, and then he said, “Sports aren’t your thing, but you still attend games. School’s not your thing, but you’re here every morning on time. What are your things? And do you avoid going to them? Is it like the opposite?”

Kyungsoo snorted at the teasing and shook his head, saying dumbly, “My thing is acting, and I don’t currently have any acting gigs so… yeah I guess.”

“That’s amazing,” Chanyeol said with a big laugh.

Their conversation had to end since the professor started class, and Kyungsoo realized that he had a dumb smile on his face, so he tried to focus instead on the boring information to stop himself from replaying the conversation with the basketball player over and over in his head. He wasn’t even sure why it had amused him so much. Maybe it’s that he’d been so easy to talk to, and maybe it’s because Kyungsoo didn’t really talk to anyone at school outside of Jongdae really. In the one semester he had been there, he hadn’t made a single college friend, but maybe this second semester would be better. Maybe he could become friends with Chanyeol Park.


	5. Chapter 5

Jongin watched as Jongdae took pictures of Lisa and Jennie with his camera phone. The girls posed under the neon “Young and Free” sign inside the restaurant that served the sole purpose of assuring their restaurant was Instagram-ready.

“Let me review,” Jennie said, running over to Jongdae to look over the shots and give her approval.

Jongin just wanted to eat.

Once Jennie had him take a few more and gave her final approval and a command for them to be sent to her, they took their seat at their table and were promptly greeted by their server.

It had been Jennie’s idea to do a double date with Lisa and Jongdae, insisting that she felt they had gone on enough dates and seemed to like each other enough to do one. Jongdae had laughed when Jongin had told him this, but here they now were, sitting at a table for four in the trendy West Hollywood restaurant that was packed and bustling with a lively Friday night crowd.

“We have to go up to the rooftop bar after and take more pictures,” Jennie insisted, reaching for her glass of water as the little diamonds on her dainty bracelet glowed pink in the warm and dim lighting.

“I think I left my fake at home,” Jongdae said, and Jongin snorted, knowing he didn’t have one.

“No, really?” Jennie said with a small pout. “Well, we can always come back some other time.”

“Yeah, some other time,” Jongdae said, giving a look to Jongin as if wondering as if he’d say anything about it as well.

Jongin did not and just chuckled instead as he looked over the menu.

“So, when does your music video come out?” Lisa asked Jongin, once they had finished ordering and returned their menus to their server.

“I’m not sure,” Jongin shrugged, “But based on the playbacks, it looked really cool.”

“I’m going to give it so many YouTube views alone,” Jennie said. “It’s going to have a million views in the first minute, and they’re all going to be from me.”

“Aw, thanks, babe,” Jongin said with a warm smile toward her, loving how supportive she tended to be toward all his projects.

“That’s going to be impressive,” Jongdae pointed out. “Are you going to have a million devices open all at once?”

“You know what I mean,” Jennie said with a laugh, and Jongdae laughed with her.

Lisa looked bemused by them both as she took a sip of her water.

“We need to get you a video,” Jongin told Lisa, noticing his phone light up with a text from one of his sisters. It was nothing important, so he ignored it.

“It’s harder for girls to get booked,” Lisa said, her eyebrows rising to show her annoyance with this fact. “I’m going to an audition on Monday for some dance skit on the James Corden show. Like why?”

“Oh, he’s so funny,” Jennie said, more excited by the prospect than Lisa.

But Jongin understood Lisa’s consternation. It probably would be a comedy routine that didn’t require real dancing and be a waste of her time and talent.

“Well if I get it, I’ll make sure you come to the taping,” Lisa assured her, and Jennie’s smile brightened.

“What a coincidence,” Jongdae said, “I, too, think Corden is funny.”

“Sorry,” Lisa said, “I’d only probably be allowed one ticket, and that has to go to my ride or die.”

“You don’t think Corden is funny,” Jongin said snickering, “Shut up.”

“I do too think he’s funny,” Jongdae defended, causing all of them to crack up.

It was fun to go on a double date with Jongdae again, but it was more fun to watch how Jongdae interacted with Lisa. They had both put in a lot of effort to look good for the other, as if still needing to impress, but they seemed to fall into a familiar and casual rhythm, looking comfortable with each other, like when Jongdae put his arm around Lisa’s chair to share something with her so that only she could hear, and Lisa leaning into him instinctually smiling and turning her face to his to reply. The close proximity did not appear to unnerve either of them.

It was good. Jongin wanted Jongdae to find someone nice like him, but also different in a way that could challenge him a bit. Jongin had liked Wendy just fine, but his biggest issue with her had been that she was too caring. And while that may not have seemed like a problem at first, it became a problem as time went on, when she was always putting Jongdae’s needs before her own and always asking him where he was going and what he was doing to check up on him to make sure he was alright.

Jongin had been proud of Jongdae when he had finally broken up with her, but he knew that a part of Jongdae still wished he was with her.

But Jongin knew Lisa well from their years of dancing together, and she wasn’t like that at all. At least not from his perspective. Who knew what she was like in a relationship? Hopefully not like Wendy.

Their food was brought to them and they all gave each other assessments on their selections, letting each other try their dishes since the flavor palate of this restaurant was one that certainly needed to be explored.

“Next time we should invite Jisoo and Baekhyun,” Jennie said, having ordered a coconut encrusted fish, which she cut a piece of with her fork and swirled around in the sweet chili sauce it was drizzled in before eating.

“I don’t think they’re really a thing,” Lisa pointed out with her fork, working on her squid stir fry.

“Why not?” Jennie said, looking a bit sad by this. “They should be a thing. Jisoo is so beautiful and deserves someone as cute as Baekhyun.”

“No one deserves to have to put up with Baekhyun,” Jongdae smarted.

“Why? But he’s so nice,” Jennie said, missing the joke. Jongin pointed out to her that Jongdae had been teasing, which made her light up and give a small laugh. “I have to get used to your sense of humor.”

“He’s actually not that funny,” Jongin threw in, having his own jokes, and Jongdae pretended to be offended before laughing again.

“Boys are weird,” Lisa said to Jennie, sighing and taking a drink with a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Girls are weirder,” Jongin threw back.

“But seriously,” Jennie said, getting them all back on track for this very important matter on her mind. “I’ve felt so bad for Jisoo ever since you-know-who did you-know-what to her.”

“I don’t know who or what?” Jongdae said, looking between the two girls.

Lisa sighed and seemed to have to fight an eye roll. She put her glass down, now empty of the water in it, and a server hurried over to refill it and top off the others that were still more than half-full.

“Her ex was a dick,” Lisa explained to Jongdae. “Totally dumped her at high school graduation saying he wouldn’t have time for her since he was going to college. He was headed to Stanford and thought he was a big deal.”

“It was so sad,” Jennie said. “I couldn’t imagine someone doing something so horrible to me.”

Jongin knew for a fact that Jennie had been dumped by her ex, but he refrained from saying anything, sure she had probably rewritten that history for herself in some way to better cope with it.

“Jisoo’s tough,” Lisa shrugged with one shoulder. “She handled it as well as anyone could have, but she definitely deserves better. Baekhyun’s great, but he’s not what she needs.”

“You’re probably right,” Jennie nodded, and then she seemed to get an idea, and Jongin knew what it was before she even said it. “Maybe Kyungsoo then.”

“Who’s gonna tell her?” Jongdae joked, and Jongin sighed.

“Babe,” Jongin said. “I’ve told you before. Girls aren’t his type.”

“He just hasn’t met the right one,” Jennie said, scooping up the last bite of fish on her plate.

“Does it bother you that Kyungsoo is gay?” Jongdae flat out asked her, and Jongin let out a slight gasp of surprise.

“Wait,” Jennie said, eyes big and earnest, “He’s gay?”

“Oh my God,” Lisa said, taking her napkin off her lap and tossing it on her empty plate in disbelief and probably to keep from laughing based on the expression on her face.

“Wait,” Jongin said, turning his attention to Jennie who still looked shocked, “What did you think I meant by ‘girls aren’t his type’?”

“I just thought he hadn’t met a girl he liked,” Jennie defended, suddenly clutching the heart-shaped charm of her necklace. “Oh my God, he’s gay?”

“Yes, babe,” Jongin confirmed, trying very hard to not laugh as he saw both Lisa and Jongdae snickering to themselves, “Kyungsoo is gay.”

“Oh, wow,” she said, appearing to have to digest this information, and then she smiled, “Oh my God, do you think he’d be my gay best friend? I’ve always heard everyone should have one.”

“Let’s not fetishize him, okay?” Jongdae said to Jennie, in a nice way, though Jongin wouldn’t have blamed him if he had been a bit upset about it. Jongin certainly felt a little upset.

“Wow,” Lisa said, looking at Jongdae with surprise, “Look at you, Mr. Social Justice.”

“Well, I am currently taking an Intro to Queer Theory class,” Jongdae admitted. “I thought it’d be nice to learn more about the issues facing the queer community so that I can better understand the challenges that Kyungsoo might face and be a better advocate and ally.”

“I’m impressed,” Lisa said, giving Jongdae a look that made Jongin smile, knowing that she was more attracted to him now than she was ten seconds ago.

But then he looked at Jennie and lost the smile and sighed, and Jennie noticed and seemed to be thinking about all the things she needed to say to help her own cause.

“If you’re going to have a problem with my best friend being gay…” Jongin began, and Jennie shook her head rapidly.

“No, not at all. I love gay people. I mean, I’m a fashion major.”

Lisa groaned and dropped her face into her hand, and Jongdae took a sip of his water and looked off to the side.

Jongin himself wasn’t too impressed with the response, and Jennie noticed, waving her hands.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean… I mean… I love Kyungsoo. He’s so cute. Of course, I wouldn’t have a problem.”

Jongin wasn’t too quelled with that explanation, and he twisted his lips to the side, not sure what to say in regard to it.

“Look,” Lisa then said, “Jennie doesn’t hate gay people. I can vouch for that. She’s just surprised because in her mind she had this idea of Kyungsoo and now she has to rearrange it. She’ll get there.”

“I’ll get there,” Jennie nodded, grabbing Jongin’s hand, looking at him unsure, “I’m there now. Kyungsoo is gay. Got it.”

Jongin looked at her and gave a nod, then sighed and looked at her hand and gave it a small squeeze back, not entirely because he believed Jennie, but mostly because he believed Lisa.


	6. Chapter 6

Chanyeol had come up with such a great idea that he shared it with Minseok while doing his circuit training. He was doing sit-ups as he explained that he was going to set up a movie night in his dorm room, bros only, and invite Kyungsoo.

“Who’s Kyungsoo again?” Minseok asked him, holding Chanyeol’s feet down and mentally counting for him.

“Red Riding Hood. The guy in my class who showed up to our game and made us win.”

“Your strategy and skills made you win,” Minseok pointed out, logically and too sensible for the moment Chanyeol was having with his burst of inspiration.

“Right, but he was a good luck charm too. He didn’t show up to the game against Stanford and we lost.”

“And why are we inviting him to a bros-only movie night in your dorm room that you don’t even like to stay in?” Minseok asked as he let go of Chanyeol’s feet and pat the side of this calf to let him know to start on his crunches.

Chanyeol started his crunches in swift movements, mostly to get through them as quickly as possible.

“Because he likes movies. I think. He’s an actor, so he has to like movies, right?”

“But _why_ are you inviting him?” Minseok asked, sitting with his knees drawn up as he watched him with his suspicious cat eyes.

“Because he seems cool, and I think we should hang out.”

“What movie are you planning to watch?”

Chanyeol stopped crunching as his eyes went wide, and he sat up straight and looked at his trainer.

“I hadn’t thought of that. What if I pick a movie, and he hates it?”

“Well, if it’s just a bro get together to get to know him better than the movie probably doesn’t matter,” Minseok shrugged off.

“Right,” Chanyeol said.

He had to wait a couple of days to get his chance to ask Kyungsoo, and high off adrenaline from his protein shake, morning run, and hopefulness that Kyungsoo would agree to join him in his dorm for movies, he gave a cheerful smile to Kyungsoo after he had sat in his desk and said, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Kyungsoo said to him, smiling, and Chanyeol noticed that his lips did this heart-shaped thing when he smiled that was really something.

“So, I was going to do a movie night with my best friend at my dorm tonight, since I’m not on the road and there’s no game. Do you want to come over and join us? You can bring a friend too. It’s a bros night.”

Chanyeol watched Kyungsoo look a little surprised and then nod and smile at him.

“Sure. I’m sure my best friend and I will be bored tonight anyway. Sounds fun. What movie are you guys watching?”

Shit. Chanyeol really needed to have picked one so it didn’t sound like he was doing this just to get Kyungsoo to come over even though he was totally doing this just to get Kyungsoo to come over.

“We were going to decide tonight. Maybe you can help us pick a good one on Netflix? Since you’re an actor and all.”

“I’m not sure our tastes are the same,” Kyungsoo said, and it sounded like he was challenging him.

“Oh, are you one of those pretentious film types?” Chanyeol joked with him. “What’s your favorite movie of all time?”

“ _Inception_ , what’s yours?”

Chanyeol had to think if he had ever heard of _Inception_ , and it sounded familiar, but not in a way where he ever thought he had seen it.

“ _Deadpool_ ,” Chanyeol deadpanned, as seriously as Kyungsoo had given his choice.

“Oh boy,” Kyungsoo said with a chuckle, and Chanyeol chuckled as well, knowing that they were going to have a hell of a time agreeing on a movie that night.

After classes, lunch, practice, and a quick shower, he picked up his dorm room and made sure it was presentable, not that he was in it enough to make a huge mess, but still, first impressions meant a lot. He wondered what Kyungsoo would think of his basketball posters, one of Kobe Bryant, and one of their season’s schedule. He had USC and Lakers banners between them, and a small hoop attached to the side of his wall that he liked to throw balled up pieces of paper through when he was just lying in bed thinking of nothing. Okay, maybe his room was a bit jock-y, and as Chanyeol looked around, he hoped it wasn’t off-putting to Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun arrived with some sodas and took on the duties of ordering enough pizza for four boys while Chanyeol threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

“So, who are these people you’re inviting for this totally random movie night that we’re doing?” Baekhyun asked once he had finished ordering the pizzas on his phone.

“Just some guy from my class and his best friend. He seems nice and I think he’s a good luck charm for our games, so I want to be friends with him.”

Baekhyun looked at him surprised, and Chanyeol knew why. Chanyeol wasn’t the type to invite people into his world, especially not as a friend, per se.

“He must be special,” Baekhyun mused. “What makes you want to be friends with him?”

“I told you, he’s a good luck charm,” Chanyeol said, not sure why no one was getting that part when he told them. “He came to our Iowa game and we won. He didn’t come to our Stanford game and we lost.”

“And the games after that?” Baekhyun asked.

“Those were away games,” Chanyeol waved off. “The luck only works at home.”

He finished adding blankets and a comforter to the floor, trying to create a makeshift couch for his guests.

“Athletes are so weird,” Baekhyun said as he made himself comfortable on Chanyeol’s bed, “I can’t keep up with all your weird superstitions.”

A knock on the door alerted Chanyeol to his guests’ arrival, and he hurried to open it, excited to get the evening started.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said, greeting Kyungsoo, who wore the red hoodie. Chanyeol beamed for some reason. He then noticed his best friend, who was short and handsome like Kyungsoo too. Though not handsome in the same way. “Come on in.”

“Hey,” Kyungsoo said, “This is my best friend, Jongdae,” he introduced as he came in.

“Nice to meet you, number 10,” Jongdae said with a cheery smile, and Chanyeol laughed at him, surprised by his loud booming voice, which was also a contrast to Kyungsoo’s softer tone.

Chanyeol welcomed them both in and had intended to introduce them to Baekhyun next, only Baekhyun was on his feet and pointing at Kyungsoo before he could.

“Wait!” Baekhyun said, “Why are you here?”

“Why are you here?” Kyungsoo said, pointing back at him.

Jongdae cracked up, and Chanyeol felt lost.

“You guys know each other?” Chanyeol asked, looking between them.

“Yeah, he’s one of my best friends,” Kyungsoo said, looking between Chanyeol and Baekhyun as if he was seeing things.

“What?” Chanyeol asked, thinking he hadn’t heard him right. “He’s my best friend,” Chanyeol pointed to himself and looked back at Baekhyun.

“I’m your best friend when I’m with you,” Baekhyun said to Chanyeol, “But I’m his best friend when I’m with him,” he said pointing to Kyungsoo.

“Whose best friend are you when they’re both with you?” Jongdae asked.

“Yours,” Baekhyun said pointing at Jongdae with a big smile.

“Finally,” Jongdae said, with a fist pump, and Baekhyun and Jongdae started laughing, but Chanyeol was still confused, and so was Kyungsoo, who looked between them and back at Chanyeol with big, round eyes.

He motioned with his arm toward the small dorm space and let his guests know that they could sit wherever, though the options were quite limited, so Baekhyun settled back into his bed instead, and Jongdae, as Baekhyun’s best friend for the night, had made him scoot his legs so he could sit on the bed as well.

“Why have you never mentioned Kyungsoo to me?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun as he passed the bowl of popcorn to the two on the bed, then grabbed the bowl for him and Kyungsoo to share on the blankets on the floor.

“Why have you never mentioned Chanyeol to me?” Kyungsoo went ahead and asked Baekhyun as well.

“It never came up?” Baekhyun said with a shrug, reaching into the bowl that Jongdae had settled into his lap. “Wait, I’ve mentioned Kyungsoo to you before. Whenever I had to go with my mom on her hiking things.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol nodded, “You’re ‘my hiking group friend.’ Right. Why didn’t you introduce yourself as ‘my hiking group friend’?” Chanyeol teased Kyungsoo.

“I mean, you didn’t tell me you were ‘my friend who plays basketball’,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“Probably didn’t mention ‘my friend who draws things’ at all I’m guessing,” Jongdae said, throwing a kernel of popcorn at Baekhyun.

“I brag about you all the time,” Baekhyun said, pretending to be affronted by Jongdae’s accusation, “I always tell people that I have a friend that does art things. I even once told Jisoo that my art friend was going to design my merch when I get a band together.”

“You guys know Jisoo?” Chanyeol asked both Kyungsoo and Jongdae surprised. How was this even possible? How did everyone know each other when he felt he didn’t know anyone at all? “She’s my other best friend.”

“We only know her through Jennie,” Kyungsoo let him know. “Our other best friend, Jongin, is dating Jennie.”

“Oh shit,” Chanyeol said, his eyes huge at this information as he looked at Baekhyun for confirmation. “Jennie’s new boyfriend that everyone won’t shut up about?”

“That’s the one,” Baekhyun confirmed. “He’s really nice and stupidly attractive. Obviously why Jennie wanted to date him. She’s all about aesthetics.”

“I really don’t like that girl,” Kyungsoo confessed, and Chanyeol nodded, glad he wasn’t the only one.

“She’s not my fave of Jisoo’s friends,” Chanyeol added for confirmation.

“She’s not that bad,” Jongdae said. “I find her amusing.”

“I find that I generally don’t have the energy to deal with her,” Baekhyun mused as he gave this some thought, “But I don’t dislike her. She’s alright. I will say that her and Jongin together are really visually appealing.”

“Jongin was visually appealing with his ex too,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“But in a different way,” Jongdae said. “Krystal had a classy thing to her. Jennie’s just really cute.”

“Do you guys have girlfriends?” Chanyeol decided to ask his guests. He figured it’d be a good segue to learn more about them as they waited for their pizza to arrive.

“Jongdae’s started seeing Lisa,” Baekhyun pointed out with a big, knowing smile.

“Seriously?” Chanyeol said, not believing that their world could keep getting smaller. “She’s the only one of Jisoo’s friends that I actually like.”

“Yeah, I like her vibe,” Jongdae said with a grin.

“I’m single,” Kyungsoo said, clearing his throat a little then drinking some of his soda.

“Me too,” Chanyeol said with a smile. “I don’t have time for relationships.”

“You’ve been saying that since seventh grade,” Baekhyun teased him, and Chanyeol may have blushed at being exposed. He did notice that Kyungsoo looked at him and gave him a soft smile, which made Chanyeol try and laugh off his embarrassment.

“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” Jongdae asked him, and Kyungsoo looked at him curiously.

“Sure,” Chanyeol shrugged. “Well, I don’t know if full-on girlfriend, but I’ve always had a date to prom and homecoming and stuff. I mean, when I have time for it, I do.”

Chanyeol wasn’t sure why he was fumbling over his answer, but he smiled wide to make up for it. Kyungsoo seemed to want to say something, but he just looked at him for a bit and then drank more of his soda.

“So, what movie did you guys want to watch?” Chanyeol asked as he grabbed his controller and pulled up Netflix.

“Let’s watch something scary,” Baekhyun said.

“Oh, that one where the guy’s driving and decapitates his sister!” Jongdae blurted out.

“Spoiler alert much?” Kyungsoo asked Jongdae, tossing popcorn at him now.

“Who hasn’t seen that movie?” Jongdae asked. “Everyone’s seen that movie.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen it,” Chanyeol said.

“Oh, you have to watch it now,” Baekhyun said, excited as he pointed to the TV in an obnoxious way. “Put it on, Chanyeol.”

“What’s it called?” Chanyeol asked, not caring what they watched. He was just enjoying some bros downtime that he felt he needed.

As much as he liked being alone and working on music, or spending time with some of his teammates, watching their games back to see where they could improve, or bothering his little brother whenever he was home, moments like these are the ones that Chanyeol most craved but rarely got.

He never quite knew why he liked meeting people and then became insular about hanging out with them past that. It wasn’t something he could trace back to his childhood or any specific trauma, but making friends seemed fun until it moved to the part where he had to trust, and then he found that he just couldn’t.

But since Kyungsoo and Jongdae already knew Baekhyun, it seemed like maybe they could be trusted a bit, and either way, it seemed natural for the four of them to hang out together all the time since they all seemed to run in the same circles and the bonds had already been established.

“Do you need more blanket on your side?” Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo as he shifted better against his pillow once the movie had begun.

“No, it’s fine,” Kyungsoo told him, with that soft tone that really made Chanyeol want to lean in to hear him better. It also made him want to keep asking him things so he could keep hearing it.

“Okay, just let me know,” Chanyeol said, and Kyungsoo nodded and focused on the film, having procured a pair of black rim glasses that looked adorable around his already round eyes.

Their pizza arrived 15 minutes into the movie, and Chanyeol began to push himself up to get it, but Jongdae sprung up from the bed.

“I’ll get it, you don’t want to miss this part,” Jongdae told him as he got up to get it instead.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol told him, then said to Kyungsoo, for no real reason, “He’s so nice.”

“He’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet,” Kyungsoo assured him, giving him a proud smile and then turning his attention back to the screen.

Chanyeol looked back at the screen again and wondered if Kyungsoo spoke that proudly about all his friends. It’d be cool if one day Kyungsoo talked about him like that.

Jongdae switched the types of pizzas around in the two boxes so that they’d have the same variety and amount in each box, then took a box to the bed for him and Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo seemed to be waiting for Chanyeol to take a piece first, so Chanyeol motioned for him to dig in, watching as he took a slice of the pepperoni pizza. Chanyeol took the same kind and bit into it, becoming more and more disturbed by this movie as it went along.

By the time the decapitation scene happened, Chanyeol had been so engrossed that he had forgotten about the spoiler and he yelped.

They all laughed at him, Jongdae and Baekhyun both clapping and laughing like hyenas as Kyungsoo chuckled with a large smile that showed off his top gums.

Chanyeol had his hands over his face, horrified.

“This movie is insane. You guys liked it?”

“It gets more insane. Keep watching,” Baekhyun instructed him.

“But…” Chanyeol had so many comments, and then so many questions as the movie kept getting weirder and freakier. By the time it ended, he just looked at his friends dumbfounded and announced, “I’m never letting you guys pick the movie again.”

“You didn’t like it?” Jongdae asked surprised. “Come on, it was brilliant.”

“It was weird!” Chanyeol threw back, thinking he was going to have nightmares that night, or at the very least, really strange dreams.

“It deserves an Oscar,” Baekhyun said with conviction.

Chanyeol shook his head at him and said, “It deserves to be burnt. It’s an evil, crazy movie.”

“Dae, tell your dad to burn the movie,” Baekhyun joked.

“No, he’d actually do it,” Jongdae said back.

“His dad’s a pastor,” Kyungsoo let Chanyeol know, and Chanyeol looked at him both in surprise and understanding.

“Your dad’s a pastor?” Chanyeol asked Jongdae. “What’s that like?”

“Exactly how you’d think it’s like,” Jongdae confirmed, shifting off the bed to place the empty pizza box near the tiny trash bin.

“Have you ever heard of the Grace and Light Ministries?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol.

“Yeah, who hasn’t?” Chanyeol said. Everyone knew it was the biggest and richest Korean church in the OC. His parents weren’t the religious type, so they often made snide commentary whenever they passed one of their large televised Sunday services on one of the Korean channels on TV.

“That’s Jongdae’s dad,” Baekhyun said.

Chanyeol stared at Jongdae in disbelief. “Your dad’s the pastor of that big church?” Chanyeol had to ask for verification.

“Pastor, owner, founder, he runs it, it’s his,” Baekhyun informed him. “And he wants Jongdae to follow in his footsteps.”

“Not happening,” Jongdae said, shaking his head as he opened another can of soda. “I told him I’m doing art. He’s going to have to convince my older brother to do it instead.”

“But you have more of the personality for it,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“And you’re loud enough for it,” Kyungsoo also said, which Chanyeol had to nod in agreement about, even if he didn’t agree with the whole idea of pastors running churches that big because it seemed like a scam somehow.

“Not doing it,” Jongdae said, shaking his head at them all amused, obviously a conversation he was used to having with his friends often.

“I have questions,” Chanyeol said, raising his hand as if in class, “So, is your dad.. wait, how do I ask this?” He certainly didn’t want to offend Jongdae, especially since he was nice and Kyungsoo’s friend. But now he wondered if Kyungsoo was deeply religious too or something.

“Is his dad a crook?” Baekhyun just flat out asked for him, and then laughed. “How many death threats does your dad get a day again?”

“Not as many as before,” Jongdae told him. “Ah, it’s complicated,” Jongdae then said to Chanyeol with a little rub of his head. “My dad is really religious and really believes in the Bible. He’s very charismatic and has a way about him, which made people respond well to him as a pastor. He had a vision to spread the word, that’s why he didn’t call his church a church, but a ministry instead. He raised us to believe the same thing, and we do, kinda, but not in the zealous way he believes in it. He’s not a crook, and he’s not trying to steal money from people, he just really believes in his vision.”

“That makes sense,” Chanyeol said, though he had his doubts about Jongdae’s father’s intentions still, but Jongdae was nice, and he had to have gotten that from somewhere, so maybe his father really was nice and just caught up in his own success. “So, are you religious too?” He went ahead and asked Kyungsoo.

“No,” Kyungsoo stated. “I mean, I guess I have some sort of faith, but it’s my own. I was born too cynical for organized religion. What about you?”

“My mom makes us go to church whenever there’s a big church-type holiday,” Chanyeol told him, “But I think for us it’s more personal too. I’m not cynical, but I do always wonder about religion and faith and things like that.”

“Like you’re searching for something,” Kyungsoo nodded in understanding.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, thinking about it for a moment and then giving him a nod, “I think so.”

“I don’t believe in anything,” Baekhyun said, though no one had asked him, and Jongdae nudged Baekhyun’s leg with his knee.

“That’s because you’re a narcissist that only believes in yourself,” Jongdae told him with a laugh.

“I am a church of one,” Baekhyun agreed with a louder laugh than Jongdae’s.

Chanyeol chuckled at him and grabbed for another soda and looked at Kyungsoo, asking him if he wanted another one.

“Sure,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol handed him one then grabbed his own, settling back beside him, not getting the spacing right and ending up a bit closer than before. Chanyeol blushed a bit, but Kyungsoo didn’t seem to mind, so he didn’t shift away.

“So, I know what Jongdae’s parents do now, and I knew Baekhyun’s already,” Chanyeol mentioned, looking toward Kyungsoo, “What do your parents do?”

“They’re business-people,” Kyungsoo told him with a shrug as if it wasn’t nearly as important as the others. Chanyeol imagined that might be how someone felt when their best friend’s dad was the leader of Grace and Light Ministries. “My dad works at a communications company and my mom works at an engineering firm.”

“Okay Mr. Humble,” Baekhyun said, looking as if he wanted to bop Kyungsoo on the back of his head, “His dad is a top exec at KBS America, and his mom is a lead engineer on a huge project at SpaceX.”

“Holy shit,” Chanyeol said, and he stared at Kyungsoo with suspicious eyes, “You’re totally lying about being bad in school, aren’t you?”

“I’m not,” Kyungsoo said, looking at him almost as if begging him to believe him. “I didn’t inherit any of my parents’ smarts. My brother did, but I missed the genetic memo. Both of my parents were really into the arts as well, so I got that side of them, and they’re supportive of my acting goals because of it, but they also expect me to get a degree in case it doesn’t work out. But it will.”

“It 1000% will,” Baekhyun said, raising his soda can as if toasting, and Jongdae did the same, then they clinked their cans together before taking their sips.

“Idiots, both of them,” Chanyeol teased.

Kyungsoo smiled at the assessment, then asked, “What about your parents?”

“Oh, real estate,” Chanyeol shrugged, also choosing to be humble since real estate definitely paled in comparison to big churches, KBS America and SpaceX.

“Seriously?” Baekhyun said to Chanyeol, and he shook his head and let out a big sigh as if burdened he had to do all the work for them. “Chanyeol’s dad builds really fancy hotels in really fancy areas. Like the kinds of hotels that have sprawling golf courses and infinity pools for miles in them. He also builds really fancy mansions for all his really fancy friends.”

“Fancy?” Chanyeol asked, both embarrassed and amused by this description.

“His mom,” Baekhyun carried on, “used to be a model in Korea, which is why she’s friends with my mom, who used to be an actress over there. So that’s how Chanyeol and I met each other.”

“Oh wow,” Kyungsoo said, looking at Chanyeol and appearing to really take him in. “That must be where you get your height and looks from.”

Chanyeol coughed, and Baekhyun cackled before saying, “What looks? Chanyeol wishes he looked like his mom.”

“Hey,” Chanyeol said in defense, “I happen to be very good looking. Kyungsoo confirmed it, which is why he’s my new best friend.”

“Hey hey hey,” Jongdae said putting his hand up. “You don’t get to take my best friend just because I took yours.”

“Nope, I claimed him,” Chanyeol insisted. “You guys have fun being art and music besties, Kyungsoo and I are going to be movie and basketball besties.”

“Good luck with that,” Jongdae snorted, “Kyungsoo hates sports.”

Chanyeol pouted and Kyungsoo, who had just been watching them all interact and smiling as he sat quietly, noticed the pout and smiled wider, causing his eyes to crinkle in a way that Chanyeol really liked. It gave him character. Well, more character than he already had, which was a lot to begin with.

“I like watching you play basketball,” Kyungsoo told him.

Chanyeol lifted his arms in victory, and Jongdae whined.

“My new best friend Kyungsoo is invited to all of my movie nights,” Chanyeol declared. “You guys can come if you want, but we’ll be here, picking out non-disturbing and non-weird movies.”

“Oh, you thought that was weird?” Jongdae said, cackling again, “You don’t even want to know the weird shit Kyungsoo watches.”

“I’ll watch whatever he wants to watch,” Chanyeol said, then pointed out, “You were the one that suggested this weird movie. He wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“What movie would you have suggested?” Baekhyun asked Kyungsoo, smirking as he watched them interact.

“Um,” Kyungsoo looked up and really seemed to be thinking of an answer, and Chanyeol waited patiently, following the lead of the two people who knew him best who seemed to be aware that Kyungsoo would need time to think about it. “I think since you like action, but probably only watch popular movies, I would have suggested an action movie that you probably have never seen. Like a Luc Besson classic.”

“A who and what classic?” Chanyeol asked.

“Maybe we can watch one the next movie night,” Kyungsoo said, “I mean, if you want to do this again.”

“Of course, I do. Let’s do this like once a week, guys,” Chanyeol said looking at all three of them.

“I’m in,” Jongdae said.

“Sure, why not,” Baekhyun agreed, “A different person gets to pick a different movie each week though. I’m not putting up with back to back weeks of Soo’s weird movie taste.”

“I might be sick and have to stay home when it’s your week,” Jongdae said, and Baekhyun kicked his leg at Jongdae’s, which somehow turned into a leg kicking battle between the two.

“Idiots,” Kyungsoo said to Chanyeol, and Chanyeol nodded in agreement. Noting that it was yet another thing they agreed on and had in common, despite all their obvious differences.


	7. Chapter 7

Jongin always loved spending time in his sister’s dessert café. June, who unlike her siblings had chosen to go by her American name instead of her Korean one, had gone through great lengths to work with an interior decorator that shared her vision, and everything, from the rustic, white-finished wooden tables to the fairy lights that framed the pastel portraits on the crème-colored walls had been hand-picked by her.

June always had decent enough music playing, usually female singer-songwriter types, both American and Korean, but whenever Jongin was going to be there for any length of time, she’d let him change the playlist to his liking, which is why he sat at a table, bopping his head to the _Black Panther_ soundtrack. He drank his strawberry milk out of the cute glass bottle that his sister served it in and listened as his friends told them about the weird coincidence of meeting Baekhyun’s other best friend.

“Wait,” Jongin said after he had gotten the gist of it, “So Baekhyun has a best friend, who’s also best friends with Jisoo, and therefore knows Jennie?”

“Yes,” Jongdae said, finally biting into his Nutella croissant after recounting the entire movie night to Jongin.

Kyungsoo had nodded along and smiled as Jongdae had told the story, enjoying his castella cake and mocha latte.

“I wonder if it’s Sehun’s brother,” Jongin then said. “Did he mention having a brother?”

“No?” Jongdae said, bouncing in his seat with the excited energy of a man enjoying his pastry. “Who’s Sehun?”

“One of the high school dancers that comes into the studio from time to time,” Jongin explained. “Apparently he’s dating Rosé because they go to the same high school or something, and I found out that he was Jisoo’s best friend’s little brother, so I’m thinking that’s him.”

“What kind of…” Jongdae began, then shook his head, “This is all your fault.”

“Me?” Jongin said, looking affronted. “How is this my fault?”

“You started dating Jennie and this happened. You brought her into our world, and it caused some weird butterfly effect where everything collided and made everything crazy. Kyungsoo willfully wants to attend basketball games now. This is your fault.”

“It’s more interesting when your best friend is on the team,” Kyungsoo said, and he let out a soft snicker that made Jongin narrow his eyes a little.

“Oh yeah, apparently now they’re best friends,” Jongdae added to his story for Jongin. “And I’m now Baekhyun’s best friend. Again, this is all your fault.”

Jongin wasn’t sure how it was his fault that the basketball guy had wanted to invite them over for a movie. He was, however, sure that Kyungsoo seemed to be in a better mood than usual, keeping a happy little smile on his face the entire time he was eating his cake. The behavior made Jongin a lot more curious about this than he normally would have been.

“I think I should be at the next one,” Jongin stated. “I want to be part of bros movie night too.”

“Sorry, only college people allowed,” Jongdae joked, and Jongin threw a glare in his direction that made Jongdae laugh.

“I’ll ask Chanyeol if you can come,” Kyungsoo told him.

Jongin nodded as he took another sip of his milk, then texted Jennie to ask if she knew what Sehun’s brother’s name was.

“So, when’s the next basketball game?” Jongin thought to ask. “Maybe I’ll join you guys this time and see if I remember him too.”

“You will,” Kyungsoo told him. “And I think they’re away this Thursday, so Saturday would be their next home game.”

“How does he keep up in school if he’s at away games and stuff?” Jongin inquired, reaching over with his fork to steal a bite of Kyungsoo’s cake.

“Don’t athletes get away with not doing all the work we have to do?” Jongdae asked Kyungsoo. “I swear they have special privileges.”

“I’m not sure,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “He takes notes during class, so he seems to be doing what we all do.”

“Maybe we’ll ask him at the next movie night,” Jongdae said, stretching his arms out over his head before he gave three pats to his non-existent tummy. “I want another Nutella croissant,” he then whined.

“You are not eating my sister out of her croissant inventory,” Jongin warned him, pointing his fork in his direction. “Not again anyway.”

“But your sister loves me,” Jongdae said with a big cheesy smile, and then he looked over at June who had just finished helping a customer. “You love me, right?”

“Just come get your croissant,” she said, already having put another one on a plate for him at the register.

“I’m her favorite,” Jongdae said to Jongin, who had given him his own bratty look and then had gotten up to get it.

Jongin focused on Kyungsoo, who swayed his head a little from side to side to the beat of the song playing as he finished his cake. He wanted to ask him a few more things, but then he realized that he was probably overreacting. It was good that Kyungsoo seemed to have made a new friend.

“Your sister should market these to the world,” Jongdae said, sitting down already having taken a bite out of his croissant.

“She should make you the official spokesperson for them,” Jongin agreed, and then his phone lit up with a text from Jennie.

_Chanyeol! He’s tall and really hot! Not like Sehun though. Tall and hot in a different way. Why?_

Jongin felt a little tug somewhere in the pit of his stomach, or maybe it was more like a slight dropping feeling. _Chanyeol._ And he was _tall and hot._ That couldn’t be good. He texted her back.

_I think Jongdae and Kyungsoo may have met him last night. Small world._

_OMG! WE SHOULD ALL HANG OUT!_

_LOL_ , he replied back to her, to humor her, but not agree with her.

When the friends finished up their dessert meet-up, Jongin went straight to the studio, feeling his mission of finding Kyungsoo a new boyfriend was now more imperative than ever.

He made it in time for a contemporary class and warmed up, looking around at the dancers who were in attendance, but the majority of them were girls, and the only other guy in the class was someone Jongin knew for a fact was straight.

He didn’t have much luck in the jazz class that followed and tried to put positive vibes into the air that the hip hop class would be the one, but another text from Jennie made him step outside instead since it simply asked if he could call her. He figured she wanted to talk about the hang-out she seemed excited about, and he tried to think of ways to evade committing to it, except he did actually want to meet this Chanyeol guy.

“Hey, babe, what’s up?” Jongin asked once she had picked up.

“Do you think you can come by tonight?” Her voice was subdued, and whatever enthusiasm had been in her when she had texted him about Chanyeol seemed to be completely gone.

“Yeah, of course. Is something wrong?” He furrowed his brows, thinking that something most certainly wasn’t right.

“Just come over, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll head over now. I’m not far.”

“No, just come tonight. Like, later. I have to go to a seminar now.”

“Okay, I’ll be there with dinner. How’s that sound?”

“Okay,” she said, and then she hung up, no adorable words or cute names or telling him that she couldn’t wait to see him.

It was so unlike her that Jongin was distracted throughout the entire hip-hop class, and he left soon after to pick up In ‘n’ Out, making sure to get her the chocolate shake that she loved so much. He hoped it would put a smile on her face, or at least make her feel better.

She opened the door for him after two quick knocks, and Jongin noticed that her face was red and a little puffy. He felt… well he wasn’t sure what he felt, but it may have been something like surprise and worry combined.

“Are you okay? What’s going on?” he asked her, never quite seeing her like this. Even when bad things happened or she was disappointed, she always twisted it to be something positive, or something that wasn’t a big deal. Whatever this was, it was a big deal.

“I’m just sad,” she said, and she sat on the floor of her room, her portfolio and sketchbooks all laid out in front of her. “Remember that girl in my classes I told you about? Vivi?”

“Yeah,” he said, placing the bags of food down and handing her the chocolate milkshake.

“Well, we had a critique session in class, and she tore apart my design. I thought my coats were cute,” she said, pushing her sketchpad toward him and taking the milkshake in exchange.

He furrowed his brows and looked at the coat designs, which were brilliant in his humble and non-fashionista opinion. He looked back at her to see her drinking her chocolate shake with a pout, and as much as she was hurting, he couldn’t help but to find her adorable.

“Babe, this is brilliant. She’s just jealous of you. I told you that last time.”

“No, I think she might be right about some of the things she said,” she said, pulling her portfolio back toward her and looking at it. “She says that it was all derivative and it was probably because I couldn’t come up with anything original since I had been exposed to so much high-end fashion growing up. Like, what if…”

“Stop,” Jongin said, putting up his hand and waving it to get his point across. “You need to stop right there. She’s jealous. First of all, originality doesn’t come from creating things out of thin air. Art inspires art. There’s not a single dance move that’s been taught to me that didn’t build off another dance move before it. Even deviations from style begin with that style it deviated from. That’s how art evolves. If you were inspired by something else, this,” he said, pointing to her design, “is the evolution of it. And you said yourself that you’ve tried to help that girl before because she doesn’t quite get the assignments right. So not only is she jealous of you, but she probably resents you a little too. Stop listening to her and stop helping her.”

Jennie blinked at him, looking a bit awe-struck, which made Jongin a little unsure of what he had said.

“You’re so brilliant,” she said, and Jongin blushed.

“I’m not brilliant.”

“You are. You’re so smart. You’re like totally right that art evolves from art. Why have I never thought of that before?”

“It’s something someone once told me, and it stuck. Now I’m telling you. We just pass wisdom on to each other,” he said, giving her a supportive smile and looking at her portfolio again. “I really like this coat. I’d wear it.”

“Really?” she asked again, looking at him for the confirmation that she always so desperately needed. “I designed it to be unisex, so if you like it, that’s a good sign it works for men at least.”

“It works for both,” he assured her. “Was this the only design?” he asked as he pulled out her burger and fries from the bag and handed it to her.

She took them with a soft smile and shook her head, then placed her food down beside her shake so she could flip pages in her portfolio instead. She turned it around and pointed out her other designs, and while Jongin was no expert, he liked each one, seeing her vision as she explained her concept and inspiration for each.

Watching how she lit up and hearing her voice rise in excitement as she spoke about each creation warmed him. He related to her, knowing this was how he looked and sounded when he spoke to anyone about dance, and by the time she was finished, he was the one looking at her with awe.

“Don’t ever let anyone make you feel that you’re not doing this right,” he told her. “You were meant to do this. Your failures and mistakes along the way are your growth, but nothing you’ve shown me just now is either of those. If you’re concerned, ask your professor for advice or guidance. Vivi can go cry in a corner.”

Jennie looked at him, appreciative, and she shifted her portfolio to the side so she could scoot up and fill the spot, wrapping her arms around Jongin’s neck and looking at him before sinking her head into his shoulder and letting out a sigh as she hugged him.

He hugged her back, pulling her close just a tad more so he could run his hand over her back and comfort her, or reassure her, or whatever she needed in that moment.

“I’m so happy you believe in me,” she said after a moment.

“Of course I do,” he told her, a small playful smile on his lips out of amusement.

She shifted so she could look up at him, and then she tilted her face up to catch his lips with hers as she gave him a lingering kiss that made him smile even more.

“Can you stay the night with me?” she asked him, looking into his eyes with the kind of look that always got her what she wanted.

“Of course,” he told her, and he kissed her back, portfolios, jealous classmates, and In ‘n’ Out all temporarily forgotten for a moment as he kissed her tenderly and assured her with soft touches to her neck that he was there for her no matter what she needed.

He knew he was good at this. Jongdae and Kyungsoo both liked to make fun of him for being the romantic one in the group, teasing him for liking to buy flowers and chocolates for his dates more than they enjoyed receiving them. But it was true. He supposed he could blame his upbringing for it. He knew he was very coddled growing up, and so he felt that it was normal to coddle.

Krystal hadn’t been used to it at first, her personality more reserved and cynical. She had thought he was up to something during his attempts at wooing, and when she finally decided to give him a chance, he spoiled her even more, in ways that would break her outer shell and make her laugh, or more comfortable, or relaxed in a way where she could truly be herself.

Jennie was the exact opposite. Receiving gifts and being spoiled had been part of her upbringing as well, in a way where she expected it, but played off well her disappointment if she didn’t receive it. But Jongin never gave her a reason to be disappointed, and she, in turn, was the same way with him, spoiling him and making him feel very adored.

They broke apart after a while to eat their food and then work on Jennie’s latest project, Jennie doing the actual work while Jongin gave his opinions and encouragement. And when she felt she had done enough for the night, they cuddled in the twin bed of her dorm, Jongin dropping little kisses on her cheeks and lips as she spoke to him about the five million things on her to-do list for the next day.

“I really hope Rosé likes the necklace I got her for her birthday,” Jennie said, as Jongin felt his own exhaustion begin to take over him.

“She’s going to love it,” Jongin assured her, rubbing circles on her arm with the soft touch of his fingertips.

“I hope so. Her taste is always so unique, but it’s such a pretty necklace, and every pretty girl should have a pretty necklace.”

“Every pretty boy should too,” Jongin joked.

But Jennie, as always, took the comment to heart and said, “You’re right. Every pretty boy should have a pretty necklace. I’ll buy you one.”

“You don’t have to, babe,” he assured her, dropping a kiss on her temple with amused lips.

“I really want to buy your mom something nice, for when I meet her. Does she like necklaces?”

Jongin hesitated, knowing that this subject would keep coming up until he did something about it.

“She does, but I don’t think she needs another one,” he said instead, and kissed down her jawline, hoping to distract her from this train of thought by using his tongue to tickle at her skin.

Jennie laughed and cuddled into him more, catching his lips with hers and successfully being distracted as they made out for a little bit, but then Jennie’s mind got the best of her again, and when she pulled away, her concerns had moved on to something else.

“Your friends are coming to Rosé’s birthday party, right? I really want her to have a good turn-out. She’s turning 18 so it’s a big deal, and I don’t want her to feel like enough people didn’t care.”

“Lisa’s dragging Jongdae to it as her date, so he’ll be there.”

“You should get Kyungsoo to come too.”

Jongin chuckled and kissed the little pout off her face that appeared at his reaction.

“Babe, your obsession with Kyungsoo makes me think you’d rather date him instead of me.”

“Nooo, I just want him to feel more comfortable when he’s around me,” she said, and Jongin blinked at this, thinking that it wasn’t a good thing that she noticed that aspect of it. Wanting his friends to like her was one thing, but being able to tell that it may be personal was another thing entirely.

He sighed and shifted a little in the bed to better hold her as he talked to her.

“Soo is Soo,” he tried to explain. “It’s going to take him a while to warm up to you, just like it takes him a while to warm up to anyone. The more you try and force it, the more he’s going to resist, so just let it happen naturally, okay? Besides, Jongdae likes you just fine.”

“I like Jongdae,” she said, running her fingers under the waistband of his boxers, and he closed his eyes at the soothing feeling of it. “I really hope he and Lisa make it official soon. She really needs someone. She’s the only one in our group of friends that’s never had a boyfriend. It doesn’t make sense. She’s so pretty and so talented and so sweet.”

“She’s focused on her career, which makes her selective of who she spends her time with,” he explained for her, eyes still closed as her fingers dipped lower, applying pressure to his hips.

“But so are you, and you’ve had girlfriends,” she pointed out.

“It’s different for girls in the dance world,” he told her. “Lisa has to try harder than I do and give up more than I do, which says a lot because I have to try hard and give up a lot to earn my way up to the level I’m at. It sucks, but it sucks worse for her.”

Jennie said nothing at first, her hand stopping its caresses as she appeared to have to process this, and then she said, “I get it. Even in fashion, it’s harder for girls than guys, which is dumb because fashion is all about the female consumer.”

“Yeah, exactly,” he agreed, and then he smiled as she gasped, having had an epiphany.

“I bet I could create a whole collection off that concept,” she said with excitement in her voice.

“I bet you could,” he told her, and he gave her another kiss, to share in her excitement.

She returned to her caressing, getting caught up in the kiss, and he slid his hand down, under the thin fabric of her panties, as they caressed each other and led each other to bliss before falling asleep for the night.


	8. Chapter 8

Chanyeol met up with Jisoo in the Tudor Campus Center for lunch, even though she wasn’t a student at USC, and even though she should’ve been on their rival school’s campus instead at this moment. Chanyeol had intended to go to UCLA initially, but when he didn’t get the basketball scholarship he’d been hoping for from the Bruins, but did get the one from the Trojans, his decision had been made for him.

Jisoo had been upset that Baekhyun had chosen to follow Chanyeol instead of her, but Chanyeol had given Baekhyun more incentive by pointing out that they’d be in the music program together and that Baekhyun would never even see Jisoo on campus since she’d be taking nerdy classes to prepare for law school after she graduated. After admitting defeat, Jisoo said she didn’t care since she’d make new friends and forget all about them.

Which, naturally, is why she kept bugging them on their campus all the time.

“So, you knew about Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol asked her after he had filled her in on his movie night and the crazy connection he had uncovered.

They sat in the bustle of the packed food hall, having managed to snag a table for four, which gave them room for the two CPK pizzas they had ordered to eat.

“I did. I met him at Jennie’s birthday party. Jongin introduced us,” she said as she cut a piece of one of her slices.

“The new boyfriend,” Chanyeol stated.

“Yes,” and then Jisoo gave Chanyeol a curious look. “Wait, you haven’t met Jongin yet?”

Chanyeol shook his head as he stuffed pizza into his mouth, rather famished after an extra tough morning workout.

“Well, you’re coming to Rosé’s birthday party, right? You’ll meet him there.”

“Uh, I’m definitely not going to her birthday party,” Chanyeol let her know once he had swallowed his food and could talk again.

“Why not?” Jisoo asked him, surprised. “What did Rosé ever do to you?”

“Nothing, except that apparently Rosé transferred at some point this year to Malibu High and ended up meeting my little brother, so now they’re friends, which means he’ll be at the party, and I’m not about to go party with my little brother. That’s just weird.”

“The whole thing is weird. How did Sehun meet Rosé and not connect that it was our Rosé?”

Chanyeol switched over to his salad, taking several big bites and checking the time on his phone to keep track of it.

“I literally have never mentioned Rosé to anyone ever,” Chanyeol pointed out. “She’s your friend, not mine. Why would I talk about her to him? Or anyone?”

“Have I never mentioned her in front of Sehun?” Jisoo asked herself, as if not believing that this oversight could have happened. “Well, either way, that’s a dumb reason to not go. So what if you’re at the same party drinking and having a good time. You’re both underage. What difference does it make?”

“It’s Sehun,” Chanyeol said as if the answer was obvious enough. “I’m not sure he’s ever even drank a beer.”

“He has. I saw him drink one at Jennie’s birthday party.”

Chanyeol groaned at this information and shoved another slice of pizza in his mouth.

Jisoo laughed at him and told him to stop being naïve as she put one of her slices in his box and took one of his in return to try the pizza he had gotten instead.

“Either way…” Chanyeol began, but Jisoo cut him off.

“Either way, you need to come. Jennie made sure to plan it for a night that you weren’t away for a game.”

“Really?” Chanyeol said, looking at Jisoo as if she’d have to try harder than that. Obviously, Jennie wouldn’t care if he showed up enough to check his schedule. “I highly doubt that.”

“No, she did. And she asked me to make sure you were there. Like I said, she really wants everyone possible to come.”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked, trying the slice of Jisoo’s pizza and deciding he liked his better, even though hers was pretty good.

Jisoo sighed and took a sip of her soda before explaining.

“Rosé was pretty bummed about everyone graduating and leaving her behind. Plus, with her switching schools in the middle of the year, she hasn’t been able to keep in touch with her old friends as much as she wanted to and is having a hard time making friends at her new school. Sehun has really been the only friend she’s made, ironically enough. Jennie knows how down she’s been, so she wants to make sure she knows that we love her and haven’t left her behind.”

Chanyeol bit his lip, oddly able to relate to that. Not so much in leaving friends behind or being left behind, but more in that he had such a small circle of friends, that even going to different colleges had been disappointing.

“I mean… I guess I should go just to meet Jennie’s boyfriend already,” he shrugged.

“That’s the spirit,” Jisoo said, closing up her CPK box so she could take the leftovers with her. “My work here is now done. I’ll text you the invitation if you deleted yours.”

“I ignored it, but probably still have it,” he said, unlocking his phone and tapping on Jennie’s name to see that the invitation was the last thing she had sent him. “Wait,” he said, reading it over again. “It’s at the El Rey?”

“Yep,” Jisoo nodded as she checked her lipstick in her camera self-mode.

“Is she… doing a concert?” Chanyeol asked, not knowing why a music venue would have been booked for her birthday.

“No, Jennie just needed a venue that was big enough to hold all the people she invited. She hired a DJ. Some guy who plays the Viper Room every Friday night or something.”

“Wait, DJ Dredge?”

Jisoo blinked at him, and Chanyeol looked at her waiting for an answer.

“The fuck would I know?” she said. “Some DJ.”

“This is important,” Chanyeol told her. “DJ Dredge is amazing.”

“Just text her and ask her.”

“You text her and ask her,” Chanyeol threw back.

“You’re the one who wants to know,” she retorted.

“You’re her best friend,” he told her back and pointed to her phone for her to text.

“Fine, I’ll ask her later, you weirdo.”

“If it’s DJ Dredge, then I’ll definitely be there.”

“You already said you’d be there,” she said, getting up from the table. “Tell Baek I had to run to class, but I’ll drop by later.”

Chanyeol made a face, and Jisoo told him to get over it and left him with a laugh.

He finished his pizza and felt suddenly annoyed that he hadn’t had a chance to ask her more about Kyungsoo. He had questions. Lots of them. But they had gotten sidetracked and instead he had been conned into going to Rosé’s birthday party. He sighed and went to throw the box and salad container away before heading to his next class.

***

When he saw Kyungsoo in class the following morning, he greeted his new best friend with a big smile and immediately asked him if he was going to Rosé’s birthday party.

Kyungsoo made a disturbed face, which Chanyeol agreed with, but then he added that he was being forced to go.

“Plus,” Chanyeol said, brightening up as he remembered the confirmation he had received from Jisoo last night, “Jennie hired DJ Dredge for the night.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, and Chanyeol chuckled and explained.

“He’s an amazing DJ. He has a Friday night residency at The Viper Room.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, smiling at him and nodding. “I guess that sounds fun. I mean, I wasn’t going to go, but Jongin and Jongdae are both going, and Baekhyun said he’ll probably go. So, if you go, I’ll go.”

“We’ll keep each other company,” Chanyeol nodded, now excited about going. “We’ll just stay in the corner and enjoy the music while everyone else goes crazy.”

“Sounds fun,” Kyungsoo said, with a big smile that made his cheeks squish up, and Chanyeol thought he looked too cute for words.

He actually couldn’t get the smile out of his mind for the rest of the week, even when he was in Portland for their game against the University of Portland Pilots. As he warmed up, he looked over at the stands, knowing that he wouldn’t see the red hoodie, but able to envision Kyungsoo sitting there anyway with that very smile on his face.

Which made Chanyeol realize that he was doing that thing again that he did sometimes when he made a new friend. Chanyeol knew he could get a little obsessive, especially when meeting new people that he instantly connected with. Baekhyun often called him out on it, which Chanyeol appreciated, not wanting to come off like a weird creeper or anything.

He couldn’t help it though. His obsessive behavior was what made him good at basketball and music, so at some point, he had to accept that it’s just who he was. He just needed to learn how to manage it better when it came to other people. He did fine with Baekhyun and Jisoo, but they were different somehow.

The morning after the game, Chanyeol had some time to kill before he and his teammates were shuttled off to the airport, so he walked around, thinking that since everyone always said Portland was weird, he could probably find a birthday present for Rosé there—since she was weird.

He was in the middle of looking at some incense holders when he noticed a text come in from Kyungsoo.

_Class is lamer without you here._

Chanyeol’s heart soared in a way it hadn’t for a long time, and he knew he had the biggest and goofiest grin on his face as he texted back.

_Portland is lame without you here._

_Bring me back something lame._

If it was possible for Chanyeol to smile even bigger, he did.

_What kind of lame things do you like?_

_Like super lame._

Chanyeol chuckled and replied.

_Challenge accepted. Take good notes!_

_Challenge not accepted._

Chanyeol replied with a series of “LOL” and looked around the store for something he thought was really lame, but honestly, nothing in there was lame enough.

He purchased the incense holder with a variety of incense for Rosé and strolled back toward the hotel they had been put up in, window shopping as he kept an eye out for anything that screamed both “lame” and “Kyungsoo.”

And then he stumbled upon a souvenir shop near the hotel and he ventured inside, knowing that if he was going to find anything lame, it’d be in there.

Surrounded by magnets, keychains, bells, plates, and endless rows of T-shirts, Chanyeol tried to figure out what the dumbest thing in there could be. And then he saw it. As he was spinning a keychain holder, he paused at the sight of a keychain with a drawing of Bigfoot on it, and he busted out laughing so hard at the idea of giving it to Kyungsoo that he immediately grabbed it and took it to the guy manning the cash register.

When he got back to LA, he debated calling Kyungsoo up right away to see if he could stop by so he could give him his gift. He wouldn’t see him in class before Rosé’s party, and he thought it might be weird to give it to him then, never mind that he really just wanted to hang out with him now that he was back.

His mother, however, got a hold of him first and said that she was going to make him a celebratory dinner to celebrate their win against Portland, so he took an Uber to his home instead. He walked in to the familiar sounds of his mother watching TV while talking on the phone with someone about some event she had to attend. He related to her annoyed tone as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek before making his way up to his room. He had missed his bed.

After a great nap, he headed downstairs to eat one of his mom’s great sandwiches that she always liked to make him for lunch, and once done eating and catching up with her, he headed out to their patio that overlooked the ocean and caught up on emails and classwork, finding that Kyungsoo had managed to send him a screenshot of the few notes he had taken.

When Sehun arrived home from school, he came out to the patio in his sweats and tee, which was a clear sign he had stayed a bit late for dance crew practice.

“Hey,” Chanyeol told him with a bright smile, and Sehun smiled at him and said hey back as he sat in the patio chair next to him.

“Good game last night,” Sehun told him.

“It was Portland,” Chanyeol said with a shrug. “If we didn’t beat them, I would have been too embarrassed to come home.”

“Still a good game,” Sehun pointed out. “You got the most points on your team again. They’re going to start putting your face on billboards around town.”

“About time,” Chanyeol joked, but he really would have liked that, to be honest. Whenever he saw their point guard’s face on the USC Basketball billboard near the Galen Center, he couldn’t help but to wish it was him. “How was school?”

“It was good. In AP Lit, we’re reading _Frankenstein_ and it’s led to a lot of interesting discussions.”

“Oh yeah,” Chanyeol nodded. “I remember when I was supposed to have read that.”

Sehun chuckled at him and stretched his long legs out in front of him, pointing his toes and flexing them back to stretch out his calf muscles.

“I think you would like it if you actually read it,” Sehun pointed out. “It’s a very introspective story, and it deals a lot with loneliness and not fitting in.”

“Are you saying I’m lonely and don’t fit in?” Chanyeol asked, looking over at him pretending to be offended by this assessment.

“No, but you think that about yourself, so you’d probably like it.”

“How do you know what I think about myself?” he asked him, now starting to actually get a little offended.

“I hear you tell your friends when you talk to them on the phone or when you’re hanging out here with them. You’re loud.”

Chanyeol grunted and gave a small pout to this laptop screen as he returned his attention to it.

“Well, you don’t have a lot of friends either, so it must run in the family,” Chanyeol defended, though he knew that may not have been entirely true. Sehun didn’t dispute him on it though, and Chanyeol decided to ask him about his new friendship since they were on the topic. “Speaking of friends. I didn’t know what to get your new friend Rosé for her birthday, so I got her incense. Do you think she’ll like it?”

“Yeah, she likes stuff like that,” Sehun confirmed, and Chanyeol looked over to see him looking up in thought. “That was a good idea actually. I just got her a Sephora gift card.”

“You can’t go wrong with that when it comes to girls,” Chanyeol assured him, and then he smirked a little as he said, “So, are you into her?”

Sehun looked disturbed by this and stared at Chanyeol as if to see if he was joking.

“No? She just didn’t know anyone when she transferred over, so she decided to befriend me since there weren’t a lot of Asians in our class.”

It was true. Malibu High was a pretty white and Latino school, and Chanyeol had found that being one of the few Asians in class had made him stand out in a way that he didn’t mind. He could see Sehun minding it a bit more though, and maybe Rosé did too.

“She could’ve branched out,” Chanyeol said with a chuckle.

“She doesn’t care that much about making new friends since we’re all graduating soon,” Sehun shrugged.

“It sucks that she had to transfer in the middle of her senior year,” Chanyeol said, trying to remember if Jisoo had told him why she had. He probably hadn’t paid much attention. “Why did her parents do that to her?”

“Oh, she got expelled from her last school.”

“What?” Chanyeol said, feeling he would have remembered that detail if Jisoo had told him.

“Yeah, she didn’t really tell anyone that was the reason, but she told me. She got caught smoking weed in the bathroom.”

“Oh Rosé,” Chanyeol said, shaking his head, though it did sound like the kind of thing Jisoo always complained about when she talked about Rosé and her bad judgment calls.

“At first, her parents were going to appeal it, but then they decided to just send her to live with her aunt here in Malibu instead and enroll her in our school just to graduate.”

“Oh man,” he said, thinking about it. “She really has had a tough year.”

“She has. That’s why I’m trying to be a good friend to her. She seems like she needs one.”

“And by good friend, you mean not smoking weed with her, right?” Chanyeol teased, though he wasn’t really teasing. It was bad enough knowing he was drinking beers at parties.

“You know I wouldn’t do that,” Sehun said, and Chanyeol normally would have let that go, knowing and trusting, but he had to add his new findings anyway.

“I heard you were drinking at Jennie’s party, so I’m just making sure.”

“You’ve been drinking at parties since you were younger,” Sehun pointed out.

“Oh man,” Chanyeol said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Listen, if you do anything crazy, don’t point out to mom that I did the crazy thing first, okay? She’ll blame me for corrupting you.”

Sehun chuckled at him, but Chanyeol was serious. In their home, Sehun was the good kid, and Chanyeol was the… well, not the bad kid per se. Maybe just the problematic kid that made things more difficult for his parents than they needed to be. He couldn’t help it that he would get so upset by things that he acted out in weird ways.

“Either way, I’m going to be at this birthday party with you, so don’t let me catch you doing anything you’re not supposed to be doing,” Chanyeol warned him.

“Fair,” Sehun said with a nod, “I’ll keep an eye on you too.”

Chanyeol snorted, but then thought about how Sehun would be bored the whole night considering Chanyeol’s only intentions for the party were to see DJ Dredge and to hang out with Kyungsoo.

***

As it turned out, Chanyeol did have to wait until the party to give Kyungsoo his gift, as their schedules hadn’t quite worked out the way Chanyeol had hoped. He did manage to see Kyungsoo briefly at his game, but he hadn’t brought the keychain with him that night.

So instead he showed up to the El Rey with Baekhyun, present in hand and hoping that Kyungsoo showed up soon. Knowing Jennie was behind this affair, Chanyeol had made sure to put a little bit of effort into his clothing choices, finding a nice blue patterned button-up shirt to go with his dark wash jeans. He had styled his hair back a bit, even though he knew that chances were that it’d be hanging around his head by the end of the night depending on how much he drank and danced around.

“Whoa, this is cool,” Baekhyun said as they entered, and Chanyeol agreed as the place had been decorated to resemble the inside of a Persian palace, complete with pillows for people to sit on and low tables which had a champagne bottle and a hookah on each one.

“This is so extra,” Chanyeol said, as they dropped off their presents at the table in the front. DJ Dredge was already on the stage dropping beats, but the dance floor was empty as everyone arrived and socialized first.

“Jennie spares no expense for her faves,” Baekhyun said. “You should get on her good side more. Maybe she’d throw you a birthday party at Staples.”

“I’m good,” Chanyeol said, not needing more Jennie in his life than he already had.

They spotted Jisoo, sitting on a settee and drinking champagne while looking at her phone, and headed over to her.

“Why did you let Jennie do this?” Chanyeol asked her. Both he and Baekhyun greeted her with a half hug and kiss to the cheek then sat on the pillows around the table.

“Why does anyone let Jennie do anything she does?” Jisoo shrugged off. “Just enjoy the champagne. Your DJ guy is here.”

“I know,” Chanyeol said with a bright smile. “He’s awesome.”

“I love that Jennie probably had no idea who he was, but just managed to book a high caliber DJ,” Baekhyun said with a laugh.

“I’m sure she did what she always did,” Jisoo pointed out as she leaned toward the table to refill her champagne, “Asked around to find out who was the best, then hired him.”

“Arguably the best,” Chanyeol stated. “I’d say Austin Hawk is the best DJ in LA.”

“Trent Blue was voted best DJ of last year by _LA Weekly_ ,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“That’s because he’s dating a Jenner or something,” Chanyeol dismissed.

“He’s dating a Baldwin,” Jisoo pointed out. “Not that I keep up with those types of things, but Jennie does, and she mentioned it.”

“Suuure,” Baekhyun said, eyeing her. “Just admit you pay attention to our music conversations more than you act like you do.”

“Everything you guys talk about is boring,” Jisoo said instead, “But I’m forced to listen to it anyway.”

“No one’s forcing you,” Chanyeol pointed out as he looked at the hookah. “What’s in this? You know I can’t smoke weed in season.”

“I’d be safe and stay away from it for the night,” Jisoo let him know, and Chanyeol nodded and poured himself a glass of champagne instead.

And while the champagne, good music, and company of his friends had put him into a better mood than he thought he’d be in at the party, it didn’t compare to how much his mood brightened once he saw Kyungsoo walk in with Jongdae and Lisa.

He wore black jeans and a long black T-shirt that had a cool white design screen printed on the front. His hair was also styled back, and Chanyeol couldn’t believe how it made him look a little older and… well more noticeable.

Baekhyun waved them down and they headed in their direction, and Chanyeol couldn’t get over the confidence that Kyungsoo exuded, even with his introvert aura surrounding him. It was like he was untouchable and accessible at the same time, and Chanyeol had no idea what to do with that.

“I’ve already said I’m leaving if Rosé or Jennie walk in here with some cultural appropriation outfits happening,” Jongdae said as he traded fist bumps with Baekhyun, and then with Chanyeol.

“Don’t worry,” Jisoo assured them as they sat on the pillows. “Rosé’s wearing some sundress she found at a vintage store on Melrose, and Jennie’s wearing some Gucci slip dress so that she doesn’t show her up.” She said the last bit using air quotes that made Baekhyun bust out laughing.

“Okay, sure, a Gucci slip dress,” Baekhyun stated. “I don’t even know what that is, but it sounds like something you wear to show someone up.”

“How Jennie,” Jongdae said, lifting his champagne glass up for a toast. “To making sure we all get out of here in an hour after the woman of the hour arrives.”

“I’m definitely drinking to that,” Chanyeol said, and he looked at Kyungsoo who was smiling at Jongdae for his comment.

Chanyeol may have felt a little bummed that Kyungsoo had chosen to sit beside Jongdae instead of him, but he looked over to his right and realized that there wasn’t a pillow beside him anymore. He looked over his shoulder and realized that someone grabbed it for the table next to theirs, which just made him wonder if Kyungsoo would have sat by him if it had still been there. Either way, this worked as well. He got to see him better facing him anyway.

“What is this?” Jongdae asked, touching the hookah and then turning it to its side to inspect it.

“You’ve never smoked from a hookah before?” Jisoo asked him, looking a bit surprised.

“Yeah, no,” Jongdae said. “We party differently in the OC than you crazy kids in LA do.”

“Way differently,” Kyungsoo pointed out, as he looked around the venue again, taking it in.

“Oh, right,” Baekhyun said, a teasing smirk on his lips, “We can set up beer pong for you guys.”

“I’ve smoked from one before,” Kyungsoo then said, and Chanyeol looked at him with a surprised smile. “I remember it tasting minty.”

“Yeah, you can do different flavors,” Jisoo told him. “I already tried this one. It’s apple-flavored.”

“Someone do it so I can see how it’s done,” Jongdae demanded with a laugh, and Baekhyun did the honors, even instructing Jongdae on the best inhaling techniques, which Chanyeol found amusing for some reason.

Jongdae tried it out next, coughing a few times, unfamiliar with how the smoke went down his throat, and then Kyungsoo took his turn next, and Chanyeol watched him, realizing that he had definitely done this before as he expertly inhaled and passed the hose to Jisoo, who had reached out for it when he was done.

“That was just weird,” Jongdae said, patting his chest, but Chanyeol’s gaze was still on Kyungsoo, who rubbed Jongdae’s back like that would help. “You don’t want any?” Jongdae asked Lisa, and she shook her head.

“I don’t smoke,” she told him. “It doesn’t go well with dancing.”

“Or basketball,” Baekhyun pointed out, to avoid anyone questioning Chanyeol as to why he wasn’t smoking as well.

“Ah, this makes sense,” Jongdae nodded, and then he grabbed the hose from Jisoo to try again.

A big to-do caught their attention moments later, as the doors opened, and people started cheering. Making her entrance was Rosé, along with Jennie and some good-looking guy that Chanyeol guessed had to be Jongin.

Kyungsoo made an off-handed comment about feeling like he was at a wedding, and Chanyeol laughed so loud at it that Kyungsoo gave him a big smile in return.

Then Chanyeol noticed that Sehun was now by Rosé’s side, and he wasn’t sure if he had come in with her or had already been there waiting for her, but she took his hand into hers and leaned into him to tell him something that made him laugh, and Chanyeol felt confused by their friendship all over again.

The foursome headed straight to the dance floor, which got the party started as people got up to join them.

“Okay, I’ve got the timer going,” Jongdae said, showing them his phone. “We’ve got 59 minutes to go.”

“Come on,” Lisa said, taking his hand as she laughed at him. “Let’s go dance.”

Baekhyun and Jisoo followed them onto the dance floor, which left Chanyeol and Kyungsoo alone on the pillows with the champagne and hookah between them. Chanyeol decided to take the initiative to switch sides and sit beside him, that way he was next to him and could also see the dance floor if he needed to.

“Hi,” Chanyeol told him again, once he had gotten situated.

“Hi,” Kyungsoo said back to him, watching him with a small smile.

“So, you’ve hookah’d before,” Chanyeol said because he was lame and didn’t know how else to start a conversation with the guy he started conversations with just fine in class.

“I’ve hookah’d before,” Kyungsoo confirmed. “And you haven’t? Or just don’t do it now because of basketball?”

“Just don’t do it now because of basketball,” Chanyeol confirmed for him. “I’m not a big smoker in general though. I mean, sometimes I have to relax because I get really high strung, so I’ll smoke some weed or whatever, but not often. How about you?”

“Socially,” Kyungsoo told him. “I don’t actually like it, but I like to play along in situations.”

“Really? I figured you for the independent do-what-you-want kind of guy,” Chanyeol said, watching him and realizing that Kyungsoo was watching him back. It made Chanyeol’s stomach flip a little.

“I am. And in social situations, what I want to do is play along.”

“I see,” Chanyeol said, liking that answer, but not sure why. And then he remembered the keychain and said, “Oh, I have to give you your present from Portland.”

“I can’t believe you actually brought me something back,” Kyungsoo said, watching him reach into his pocket.

“It’s so lame, you’re going to wish I hadn’t bought it for you,” Chanyeol assured him, feeling a bit nervous about it. Even though it was a lame gag gift, he really wanted Kyungsoo to actually _like_ it. “Okay, ready?”

“Ready,” Kyungsoo said, putting his hands out together to form a small bowl.

Chanyeol took a deep breath and dropped the keychain into Kyungsoo’s waiting hands, and then watched his reaction. Kyungsoo’s thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion and then realization as he lifted it up and inspected it from each and every side.

“This is so cool,” Kyungsoo finally said, and Chanyeol felt confused.

“Cool? No, it’s dumb. It’s a Bigfoot keychain.”

“But it’s cool,” Kyungsoo reiterated, looking at it again and taking a closer look, running his fingertips over the engraved Bigfoot. “I’m going to use this every day.”

“You’re supposed to think it’s lame, and throw it in a drawer, and forget it exists,” Chanyeol said with big hand motions to get his point across.

But Kyungsoo just smiled and looked at him for a moment without saying anything, then reached into his pocket to pull out his keys. He affixed the Bigfoot keychain onto the ring that held them, then held them up to take a look at how it all came together.

“This is the coolest lame present I’ve ever gotten,” Kyungsoo said, and then he looked at Chanyeol as he put it back in his pocket. “Thank you.”

Chanyeol didn’t know Kyungsoo well enough to know if he was being sarcastic, and then he had a thought and reached over to the hookah, pulling it close to him to give it a sniff.

“Did they put something in this? That’s the only explanation for you thinking it’s cool.”

Kyungsoo chuckled and pulled the hookah out of Chanyeol’s hand to put it back on the table, and then, to Chanyeol’s surprise, Kyungsoo took his hand into his instead.

“I think monsters are fascinating,” Kyungsoo explained, and Chanyeol let out an “ah” sound of understanding. “Urban legends and things like that. I always like those kinds of stories. I remember we did a family trip when I was younger, and my dad told me all about the legend of Bigfoot as we were camping in the Redwoods. I couldn’t sleep the entire night thinking Bigfoot would tear down our tent.”

“Yeah, I’ve always found the Redwoods scary,” Chanyeol agreed. “Weird, my parents made me and my brother go camping there too. Why do parents do that?”

“I have no idea,” Kyungsoo said, and he let go of his hand, which Chanyeol wished he hadn’t. It had felt so comfortable, and now Chanyeol’s hand felt bare. “Did you camp in a luxurious cabin villa that your dad built?”

Chanyeol snorted at that and shook his head, “No, we stayed in a tent. Well, we had two tents. One for my parents and one for me and my brother. He was freaked out the whole night about it so we had to put our sleeping bags together so I could hold him the whole night.”

“That’s cute,” Kyungsoo said. “Are you guys close in age?”

“We are. I’m two years older than him,” Chanyeol said, then pointed out toward where Sehun danced with Rosé. “That’s him dancing with the birthday girl.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said. “He looks familiar.”

“You probably remember him from Jennie’s birthday party. I wasn’t there, but he was.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said again, and he nodded and reached for the bottle of champagne to pour them more. “Is this the only drink here?”

“I think so,” Chanyeol said looking around, “No, wait, I see people with bottles of beer. Wanna go find the rest of the drinks?”

“Okay, after we finish these,” he said, handing Chanyeol his champagne.

“Good idea,” Chanyeol said, accepting it and taking a long sip of it, then glancing as Kyungsoo did the same. “What’s your drink of choice?”

“I don’t drink outside of parties,” Kyungsoo stated. “I’m not old enough to.”

“None of us are old enough to,” Chanyeol pointed out.

Kyungsoo smiled at this, and then he looked around again as if he needed to take it all in all over again, the music, the Persian décor, the conversations taking place all around them, and then his gaze landed on Jennie and her boyfriend, who Chanyeol reminded himself was Kyungsoo’s best friend.

“I remember asking Jongin, back when he first started dating Jennie several months ago, if he knew what he was getting himself into,” Kyungsoo mused as he watched his friend on the dance floor. “I don’t think he did.”

“Really?” Chanyeol said, looking at the guy, who was honestly too attractive in Chanyeol’s opinion. He was definitely Jennie’s type. “He seems to fit in well with all this.”

“He’s definitely… adapted. I guess…” Kyungsoo seemed to have to think about this, and then he bit his lip for a moment, then completed his thought, “Is it cliché to say that he’s changed? It’s only been a few months, but he seems to handle all this better now than he did at the beginning.”

“Probably the first thing you said then,” Chanyeol nodded. “He’s adapted. But maybe not changed?”

“Maybe. I don’t know,” Kyungsoo shrugged and finished the rest of the champagne, then pushed himself up from the pillow.

Chanyeol did the same, and they maneuvered around other pillows and tables before they found a table that had a variety of bottled and canned drinks on it. Kyungsoo seemed to wait for Chanyeol to pick something first, so when he picked a bottle of beer up, he smiled as Kyungsoo picked up the same one. He was so endearing in his independence of being a follower in social settings, that Chanyeol couldn’t help but stare at him with a smile for a moment. And then he realized he was being weird, so he thought of something else to ask him.

“Want to dance?” And then Chanyeol realized how that may have sounded, so just as Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at the question, he added, “I mean, you know, do you want to join everyone else on the dance floor? This DJ is really good.”

He felt embarrassed, but luckily Kyungsoo didn’t say anything to embarrass him further. He just smiled and nodded, letting Chanyeol lead the way straight to where Baekhyun was pretending to twerk for Jisoo, who just let him embarrass himself on his own.

“Why are you not recording that to blackmail him with later?” Chanyeol asked Jisoo.

“I already have endless amounts of blackmail footage on him,” she waved off, and Chanyeol laughed because he knew that to be very true.

“Okay, but are you hearing this?” Chanyeol then said to Baekhyun as DJ Dredge slipped a melodic haunting rhythm under a hip-hop beat. “That syncopation is on point.”

“I’ve been hearing this all night,” Baekhyun said. “Are you getting ideas for our next open mic?”

“Wait, open mic?” Kyungsoo asked, looking between the two of them.

“Yeah, we do open mics together from time to time,” Baekhyun filled him in as Chanyeol watched Kyungsoo become more interested. “We’re both music majors, and I’m trying to make him start a band with me.” And then Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and said, “Soo is an awesome singer. Have you ever heard him sing?”

Now it was Chanyeol’s turn to become more interested. “Um, no,” he said. “I want to hear you sing.”

“I’ll set up a karaoke night,” Baekhyun said. “You have to hear him.”

Chanyeol wanted nothing more in that moment than to hear Kyungsoo sing, but right now he had to settle for watching Kyungsoo dance instead. He mostly just moved side to side, but every now and then he would add a hip sway that Chanyeol kept looking forward to.

“You’re dancing and having fun?” Kyungsoo’s best friend said coming up to him and wrapping his arms around him from behind, which made Kyungsoo both laugh and smack at him to let him go.

“I’m only having fun because I know I’ll be leaving soon. Jongdae has a timer going. Dae, how much longer?”

Jongdae pulled his phone out of his pocket, looked at it, then held it up for them to see as he proclaimed, “26 minutes!”

“We’re almost there,” Chanyeol said with a small fist pump, and then he took the liberty of introducing himself to the best friend. “Hi, I’m Chanyeol, by the way. You must be Jongin.”

“Oh, hi,” Jongin said, looking surprised as he shook Chanyeol’s hand while still keeping his other hand on Kyungsoo’s waist. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Kyungsoo told me about the movie night.”

“Oh yeah,” Chanyeol nodded. “It was really fun. You should come to the next one.”

“I’d like to. As long as Soo doesn’t pick the movies. He likes boring ones.”

“I’m picking the next one, so I guess you can’t come,” Kyungsoo said with a nonchalant shrug.

“I’m coming anyway,” Jongin said, giving him a “so there” sort of look that made Kyungsoo roll his eyes and push him away in a playful way.

“Babe,” Jennie said walking over to Jongin, and then she noticed Kyungsoo and got distracted. “Kyungsoo! I’m so happy you could make it.” And then she noticed Chanyeol and said, “Oh my God, Chanyeol! I’m so glad you’re here! Does Rosé know you guys are here? Rosé!” She called over, and Chanyeol wanted to ask Jongdae for a quick time-check in hopes they could just leave and avoid whatever this was.

But he was nice, and they exchanged pleasantries and birthday wishes with the birthday girl before Chanyeol formerly introduced Sehun to Kyungsoo and vice versa. And then, as Jennie was telling Jisoo and Baekhyun about how she helped Rosé find the perfect dress for the evening, Chanyeol grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and motioned with his head that this was their chance for a getaway.

Kyungsoo read him and started walking away, taking one quick glance over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear.


	9. Chapter 9

The whole night had seemed surreal to Kyungsoo, from the moment he walked into the music venue to the moment he had taken Chanyeol’s hand and let him lead him over the rope that blocked entry to the balcony of the historic art deco building and up the stairs to their own quiet enclave that overlooked the rest of the venue.

They had grabbed themselves more beers and a bottle of champagne along the way and chose to sit in the corner, on the floor, so that they remained inconspicuous and, hopefully, would not be found for a while.

“We should’ve grabbed the pillows too,” Chanyeol remarked as he tucked his long legs under each other and scooted up against the wall.

Kyungsoo followed his lead, doing the same to situate himself closer to Chanyeol, then said, “This works,” in response to Chanyeol’s pillow comment.

He watched Chanyeol let out a deep breath and rest his head against the wall for a moment with his eyes closed before opening them and looking back at Kyungsoo.

“Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my friends,” Chanyeol explained, and Kyungsoo understood that perfectly.

“I’m constantly overwhelmed by your friends,” he told him, and Chanyeol chuckled at him. “Although, it seems like now our friends are intertwined thanks to Jongin and Jennie. It’s funny because…” Kyungsoo had to pause to think about how to phrase his thoughts right, not wanting to say anything that would offend Chanyeol. “I guess I thought that Jongin not going to college with us and then dating Jennie would mean we’d lose him. Like he’d get pulled away into this…” He wanted to say fake and superficial, but then he thought “glamorous” might be a less offensive word. “…glamourous life with Jennie and all her super-rich friends. But instead, he’s tried to bring us along. It was…unexpected, I guess. All this.”

“Jongdae’s father runs the biggest cult in Southern California,” Chanyeol pointed out, “Isn’t he super-rich?”

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if Chanyeol was being defensive or not. He really didn’t want to upset him, but he wanted him to understand how out of his element he felt.

“Don’t ever let him hear you call it a cult,” Kyungsoo said with a small snort, and Chanyeol chuckled at him, which made him think that maybe he hadn’t offended Chanyeol with his words. “But, I mean, I guess it’s like we said. You guys do it differently. My parents would never have allowed me to throw a party like this.”

“To be fair, my parents wouldn’t either,” Chanyeol said, looking at Kyungsoo while absently picking the label off the beer bottle that he had placed in front of his tucked legs. “They let me and my brother get away with a lot, but this wouldn’t fly with them either. Jisoo’s parents would never allow it. Baekhyun’s parents… well, they’re a different story. Lisa’s parents wouldn’t. It’s really just Jennie. Honestly, I think with her family it’s all for show. Her mom’s been on like two reality shows and likes to show off all the time. We call her the Korean Kris Jenner.”

Kyungsoo almost spit out the beer he had been drinking, and laughed at the idea, even though it made perfect sense.

“I know,” Chanyeol said. “My mom would watch the show and then call Jisoo’s mom after to talk trash about how Jennie’s mom was trying too hard for the show.”

“That is amazing,” Kyungsoo said, now wanting to find the show to watch it. “Did Jennie get to be on the show?”

“Are you kidding? Jennie’s her favorite person in the world to show off. She knew it boosted ratings whenever the show showed her taking Jennie to ballet class or shopping. But Jennie started getting bullied in school because of it, so her parents sent her to a private school where less people would know who she was.”

Kyungsoo had thoughts about this, and he voiced his loudest one, “Or, you know, she could have just stopped parading her kid around on TV for ratings.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen. Although by the time Jennie got to middle school, her mom had quit the show, so she didn’t have to worry about it after that.”

“Why’d she quit the show?” Kyungsoo wondered if Jongin knew all this information as well. They didn’t seem to have the type of relationship where they got that deep with each other, but what did he know.

“She got an offer to be on a reality show in Korea instead. So, she left for a year to do it, then realized she didn’t want to be in Korea again and came back. Now she just focuses on being a socialite and pedaling her organic skincare line.”

“As one does,” Kyungsoo joked, putting his beer bottle down since it was now almost empty. He probably should have slowed it down, but he was too busy being entertained that he hadn’t even noticed. “I always hear people refer to her as the Princess of Buena Park, but Jongin told me she’s from Irvine. Which was confusing, because I thought she was actually from LA, like the rest of you guys.”

“The private schools she got sent to were boarding schools here in LA. That’s how she met Jisoo, and how she entered my life. But she is originally from Irvine, and they call her the Princess of Buena Park because her dad is the guy who developed Buena Park to be what it is now.”

“The OC version of Koreatown?” Kyungsoo said with a smirk.

“Basically,” Chanyeol said with a snort. “That huge mall with the CGV on the top floor? That’s his mall. The restaurant row? His property. Don’t ever call her that to her face though. She hates it. She knows people started calling her that to make fun of her, and even if someone says it as an endearment, it still hurts her.”

“It’s just more bullying,” Kyungsoo said with a nod. “I get it.” He bit his lip as he thought about all of this, then said, “Okay, now I feel bad for hating on her. But I really… she’s just so…”

“No, I get it,” Chanyeol said with a smile. “I feel the same way about her. I try and avoid her because of it, but I know I should probably get over it. Like Jisoo always says, she means well.”

“Jongin says that too,” Kyungsoo nodded, and he watched as Chanyeol glanced out toward the dance floor and then look back at him.

“He’s really good looking,” Chanyeol told him. “Like Jisoo said he was, but I wasn’t expecting him to look like that.”

Kyungsoo may have beamed a little in pride. Not that Chanyeol knew he was essentially complimenting him on having good taste.

“Yeah, he is,” Kyungsoo then said, as subtly as he could, but then he wondered if he could surreptitiously find out some things he’d been wondering about Chanyeol if he played this right, so he went ahead and asked, “Is he your type?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened for a second and then he looked confused and said, “What?”

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if he hadn’t really heard him, but he played along and asked again, this time being met by a couple of blinks and then a laugh.

“What?” Chanyeol said again. “No, I’m not. He’s not. I’m not like that?”

Kyungsoo chuckled, to play it off, and told him he was joking, more for self-preservation. “It’s just the way you were talking about him,” Kyungsoo said.

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, and he chuckled to himself, a little self-consciously perhaps, “No. I just mean, like objectively speaking, he’s a good-looking guy. Like, you know, just like aesthetics…”

Kyungsoo laughed again, letting him off the hook by switching subjects, “So tell me about your music.”

It was as if Kyungsoo had turned on a huge light with that simple statement. Chanyeol’s face became so bright as he launched into what he was working on for class that it took Kyungsoo a moment to process it, as if his eyes had to adjust to going outside after being in a dark room.

“I like EDM a lot,” Chanyeol explained as he talked about his inspiration for his music. “But I like classics too. I like it all. In a perfect world, I’d be an NBA player on game nights and a house DJ on non-game nights. What about you? I thought you just wanted to be an actor. I didn’t know you sang too.”

He was speaking so much quicker now that Kyungsoo had to take a moment to process that he was asking him something.

“Oh, yeah, I mean, I trained in a lot of things. Acting, singing, dancing, art in general, but acting was the one that I really wanted to pursue as a career. I figured I could put out an album on the side if the acting thing worked out for me really well.”

“I really wanna hear you sing,” Chanyeol said, almost whining about it. “Wait, sing along to this song. Everyone knows this song,” he said as the DJ dropped a remix for the Post Malone song that was playing.

Kyungsoo waited for the chorus to come up and then he leaned in a bit to Chanyeol so he could hear him better and sang along to the chorus.

_Seasons change and our love went cold  
Feed the flame ‘cause we can’t let go  
Run away, but we’re running in circles  
Run away, run away_

Kyungsoo stopped and looked at Chanyeol, who stared at him, not moving or even looking like he was breathing.

“That bad?” Kyungsoo asked.

“What?” Chanyeol asked, still staring at him, and he noticed Chanyeol’s gaze turn downward a bit, and Kyungsoo bit his bottom lip as he waited, but then Chanyeol blinked and looked back up at him, almost like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been.

“My singing?” Kyungsoo tried again, “Was it that bad?”

“No, oh my god no,” Chanyeol said as he shook his head with such force that Kyungsoo wondered if he would hurt himself. “It’s just… I wasn’t expecting that either. Your voice is so rich, and so… perfect.”

“It’s not perfect,” Kyungsoo said, knowing he was turning a bit shy from the compliment. He looked down at his empty beer bottle and grabbed for the bottle of champagne that they had brought up with them.

“No, it’s so good,” Chanyeol told him, more intense, like he needed Kyungsoo to believe him, and Kyungsoo smiled at him and took a drink straight from the bottle of champagne before passing it to Chanyeol.

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo told him, and Chanyeol hesitated slightly, and then nodded before guzzling champagne down, his Adam’s apple bobbing as it kept up with the pace.

Once Chanyeol finally pulled the bottle away from his lips, he wiped his mouth with his arm and handed what was left back to Kyungsoo.

“If your acting is like your singing,” Chanyeol said, “then you must be an amazing actor.”

“Based on your basketball playing,” Kyungsoo returned, “you must be an amazing musician.”

“I’m getting there,” Chanyeol told him.

“I want to see you play,” Kyungsoo told him. He wanted to see Chanyeol do all kinds of things, honestly, but he would take what he could get. Especially if he really wasn’t “like that.” Which, whatever. He was pretty good at sensing if guys were gay, or at least bisexual, but every now and then he got it wrong. He realized that he just really didn’t want to be wrong about Chanyeol.

“We can arrange that,” Chanyeol said, the bright smile back on his face. “Maybe during our movie night, I can play for you.”

“I’d like that,” Kyungsoo told him. He almost wanted to suggest that their movie night be just the two of them, but he didn’t want to freak him out.

Kyungsoo then realized he was going to have to talk to Baekhyun about this. Maybe he could enlighten him about what exactly Chanyeol’s deal was when it came to dating. At their movie night, when Baekhyun had exposed that Chanyeol had never had a girlfriend, Kyungsoo took that as a clear indication that Chanyeol probably didn’t want one. Maybe he was reading the whole situation wrong. And anyway, he was just supposed to be making friends with him.

But he was tall, and handsome, with big eyes and big ears that made him look like an anime sometimes, and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but to be really attracted to him.

“Maybe me, you, and Baek can write a song together,” Chanyeol said, his voice excited by the possibility.

“I’m not much of a songwriter,” Kyungsoo told him with a small laugh, taking another drink from the champagne bottle. Chanyeol had managed to leave him about a quarter of it, so he went ahead and drank the rest.

“I’m sure you’ll be a natural at it,” Chanyeol said, and he almost looked to be daydreaming about it, before he started giggling. “We should come up with a band name. The Balcony. It’s where the band started.”

“Except we don’t have Baek,” Kyungsoo pointed out, setting the bottle next to his empty beer bottle and realizing that he might have had too much to drink as he thought about what he had drunk and smoked already.

“The El Rey Party Crashers,” Chanyeol tried next, obviously excited about this exercise.

“We were invited,” Kyungsoo pointed out, giggling, and very much realizing that he had definitely drunk too much. He was going to hate himself tomorrow.

“The Invited,” Chanyeol said, spreading his hands out as if the name was on the theater marquee outside.

“The Didn’t Want To Be Invited,” Kyungsoo offered, and Chanyeol gasped.

“That’s perfect,” he said, so excited by it that he repeated it while doing the same theater marquee hand motion. “The Didn’t Want To Be Invited. We’ll be called The DWTBI for short.”

“That doesn’t roll off the tongue,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s brilliant,” Chanyeol reinforced. “Now I want us to be a real band. But Baek’s a singer too. Do you play anything?”

“No, not really. I took piano lessons because who didn’t?”

“That doesn’t help. Baek and I both play piano. Hm,” Chanyeol said, looking as if he was thinking really hard about this, and Kyungsoo resisted the urge to pull out his phone to take a picture of him.

“Maybe we can just be a band of singers,” Kyungsoo suggested. “Do you sing too?”

“I do, but my voice doesn’t have the range you guys do. It’d be weird.”

“I bet it wouldn’t be,” Kyungsoo said, “Let me hear you sing.” He figured it was only fair for Chanyeol to return the favor.

Chanyeol tried to sing along to the Drake song that was now being remixed by the DJ, but he didn’t quite know all the words since it was a song off his mixtapes that wasn’t as well known. He mumbled through the parts he wasn’t sure of and improvised in other parts, and what Kyungsoo got out of the whole thing was that Chanyeol’s voice had a deep quality to it that was soothing and textured in a way that Kyungsoo wouldn’t mind listening to every night before bed.

“Your voice is really cool,” Kyungsoo told him, and his eyes may have been glistening in admiration, or alcohol.

“Not as cool as yours. Or Baek’s,” Chanyeol said, humbly but just as starry-eyed as he looked at him.

Maybe they were both drunker than they thought.

“Baek’s voice is really cool,” Kyungsoo agreed. “Once we found out we both loved music a lot, Baek started bringing his portable karaoke machine for us to play with during our parents’ hiking events.”

“Please tell me there’s footage,” Chanyeol said with hopeful eyes.

“I don’t think so,” Kyungsoo chuckled.

“At karaoke night then,” Chanyeol said with a firm nod. He stretched out his long legs in front of him, then said, “We have to do karaoke night soon. I want to hear you guys sing together.”

“Just wait until you hear Jongdae sing,” Kyungsoo told him.

“Wait, him too?” Chanyeol said surprised.

“Church choir superstar,” Kyungsoo confirmed, stretching his legs out as well, and bumping his foot next to Chanyeol’s calf on accident, but Chanyeol didn’t seem to care, so Kyungsoo left it there.

“Wow,” Chanyeol said, and he looked a bit dazed as he said it. “This is why we were all meant to meet.”

“This is why?” Kyungsoo teased him. “So we could all sing in a vocals-only band together?”

Chanyeol laughed, running his hand through his hair that fell across his forehead and framed his face in a way that only accentuated how large his eyes were. Kyungsoo also had large eyes, but Chanyeol’s were large in a different way. Kyungsoo’s were big and round, while Chanyeol’s were a little droopy and exaggerated as if they had been drawn on him by an anime artist.

“Maybe not,” Chanyeol said, but he pursed his lips together as if thinking while he looked at Kyungsoo and said, “But maybe because we all had this thing in common so we could all be friends. I don’t have a lot of friends. Baek and Jisoo are really it. Everyone else is more like… I don’t know.”

Kyungsoo smiled at this because he felt the same way. More than having music in common, he liked that they had this in common.

“I’m the same way,” Kyungsoo told him, seeing the big smile now spread on Chanyeol’s face in relief. “Jongdae, Jongin, and Baekhyun are my only friends. And I don’t have too many acquaintances.”

“We were meant to be friends then,” Chanyeol said. “I knew it. Something about you made me think it.”

“Me too,” Kyungsoo assured him, thinking that having two friends that he found really attractive but would never have a chance with wasn’t the worst thing in the world. At least he could look at them.

Kyungsoo felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see Jongdae calling him after several missed text messages.

“Oh no,” Kyungsoo said chuckling as he texted Jongdae back, “Jongdae’s been wondering where we were. He said our time’s been up for a while now.”

Chanyeol looked at the time on his own phone and looked as surprised as Kyungsoo felt when he realized how much time had gone by.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Chanyeol pointed out.

But as it turned out, they couldn’t leave just yet, as Jongdae informed them that they were going to cut the cake for the birthday girl.

“I didn’t even know there was cake,” Chanyeol mused as they headed back down the stairs to join the festivities again.

Kyungsoo found he was having a slightly hard time navigating the stairs, and he held onto Chanyeol’s shoulder for balance as they reached the last steps.

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo said once they reached the bottom.

“You’re a lightweight,” Chanyeol said, laughing at him, and then, unexpectedly, he put his arm around Kyungsoo’s waist. “I’ll help you.”

“I’m really not,” Kyungsoo said, his heart beating a little faster at the warmth now around his waist. “I think I shouldn’t have mixed the champagne and beer though. Also, there might have been something in the hookah.”

“Yeah, Jisoo warned me to stay away from it,” Chanyeol told him, walking them both toward the dance floor where a cart with a big three-tier birthday cake had been rolled out.

“Okay,” Jennie said, seeing that they had arrived and then addressing the crowd. “On the count of three, let’s all sing.”

She counted to three and the whole place fell into a rather drunken chorus of “Happy Birthday” for Rosé, who clapped along to some beat that didn’t go with the song as she stood behind the cake. When they were done, she blew out her candles and everyone cheered. Then Jennie handed Rosé the mic.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming to my 18th birthday party!” she said, and everyone whistled and hollered again. “Now get shit faced!”

The music started again, and Kyungsoo cracked up at this, not even sure why he found it so funny. Jongin grabbed Kyungsoo at some point to dance with him, and soon Kyungsoo found himself doing some sort of drunken dancing in a circle with Jongin, Jennie, Jongdae, Lisa, and Chanyeol, who kept pumping his arms in the air and yelling out to the DJ that he loved him.

It wasn’t surprising that the night ended in disarray, as people became too drunk to do anything other than fall onto the pillows to take a break or tap out and call Ubers home. And even though their intention had been to only stay for an hour, Kyungsoo and Jongdae ended up there all night, mostly because they had managed to have more fun than anticipated.

After Chanyeol had gone to speak with the DJ for a bit and helped the DJ pack up his stuff and carry it to his car, he came back to Kyungsoo looking even more animated than before.

“He’s so cool,” Chanyeol said to Kyungsoo, who had sat on one of the settees with Jongdae, head leaning on Jongdae’s shoulder as Jongdae spoke with Lisa. “I invited him to one of our games, and he said he’d come out.”

Kyungsoo chuckled at him, and said, “I’ll keep an eye out for him and make sure he shows up.”

“You’re the best friend ever,” Chanyeol beamed.

“Hey,” Jongdae said, and then cracked up. “My best friend first,” he slurred.

Lisa then abruptly got up, catching Jongdae and Kyungsoo off guard as he sat up straight to see what had happened. They watched as Lisa strode toward the side of the venue where the bathrooms were, and then got up to follow her.

When they caught up with her, they found Sehun trying to hold up a very drunk Rosé as Jennie seemed to be trying to call someone.

“Here, let me help,” Chanyeol said, taking Rosé’s other arm to help her stand.

“I tried to get her to drink more water, but I think it was too little too late,” Sehun said, looking worried.

“That’s usually the case with her,” Lisa told him with a sigh.

Jennie looked at Lisa and asked, “Where’s Jisoo? Rosé was supposed to crash at Jisoo’s dorm tonight. We told her aunt and uncle that we were doing a girl’s sleepover, so they can’t know about this party.”

“I haven’t seen Jisoo or Baek for a while now,” Lisa pointed out. “She can stay with me since I’m not too far from here.”

Rosé laughed and then started crying for no reason, and Jongdae volunteered to order them the Uber to Lisa’s place.

Once they were outside in the fresh air, Kyungsoo stood beside Jongdae as they watched Rosé doubled over on the sidewalk, and Jennie crouched down beside her petting her hair. Jongin crouched with her, looking concerned.

“Looks like you’re going to be babysitting tonight,” Kyungsoo teased Jongdae.

“More like I’m going to make sure she makes it to Lisa’s couch and then pass out in Lisa’s bed for the next three days,” Jongdae joked.

Honestly, passing out for three days sounded like the best idea to Kyungsoo right now.

“Where are you?” Lisa said into her phone, and Kyungsoo was sure he had never heard Lisa be upset before. “You couldn’t have told someone? No, don’t bother. I’m taking her to my place.”

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo then heard Chanyeol say, and he looked over to see Chanyeol giving his brother a side hug as he rubbed his arm.

“Yeah,” Sehun said, though his furrowed brows made it seem he was too concerned to be okay, “I just hope she’s okay.”

“She’ll be fine,” Chanyeol assured him. “Not the first time she’s been like this.”

“I tried to get her to stop,” Sehun said, “But she said it was her birthday and she could do whatever she wanted.”

“That’s just how she is,” Chanyeol tried to explain again, but Sehun didn’t seem to be placated by the explanation.

“She’s fine,” Jennie said looking up at Sehun, having heard him. “Rosé just likes to party harder than everyone else. This is normal. She’ll be fine in the morning.”

Sehun nodded at her but didn’t look too convinced, and Kyungsoo didn’t blame him. This didn’t seem normal to him either, but then again, he didn’t really know Rosé or her situation.

The Uber arrived, and Jongdae and Sehun helped Rosé into the backseat as Jennie tried to calm a very pissed off Lisa.

“She just lost track of time,” Jennie tried to say to her, but Lisa wasn’t having it.

“No, she should’ve let us know that she left,” Lisa stated, but then tried to take a deep breath. “It’s fine. I’ve got her. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

They exchanged a hug, and Lisa got into the Uber, Kyungsoo hoping that Rosé didn’t throw up all over Jongdae on the way to Lisa’s place.

The rest of their Ubers arrived right after, and Jennie thanked Sehun for taking care of Rosé. Sehun nodded, but not in a way where he thought he was deserving of thanks.

“I’m taking this one home so that he sleeps and stops sulking,” Chanyeol said to them, “Kyungsoo, I’ll see you at movie night or the _noraebang_. Whichever comes first.”

“Maybe we can do _noraebang_ after the movie night,” Kyungsoo said.

“Genius,” Chanyeol said, giving him a big hug that Kyungsoo didn’t expect, and Kyungsoo held onto him because the hug may have lasted a little longer than either of them anticipated.

Chanyeol did finally pull away though, and Kyungsoo waved at him as he got in the car with Sehun.

“Wait,” Jongin then said as his and Jennie’s Uber pulled up. “Who are you going home with?”

“By myself?” Kyungsoo then realized as he looked around and realized he had no one else with him.

It was typical. He was pretty used to being the only one that hadn’t coupled off by the end of the night. Normally he’d be more emo about it, but tonight had been fun in ways he hadn’t been expecting, so he didn’t feel too bad about it.

“You sure?” Jongin said. “Want me to go back with you to your dorm instead?”

“No, I’m good,” Kyungsoo assured him with a smile, and just then his own Uber had pulled up. “Have fun.”

“Okay,” Jongin said, his brows turning a little downward before he closed the door.

Kyungsoo had no concerns as he rode in the backseat of the Uber and rested his head against the window. He thought about how he had talked with Chanyeol, and learned things about him, and even danced with him and shared a bottle of champagne. If he was honest with himself, it was one of the best nights he had had in a while, and he suddenly couldn’t wait until their movie night, or their _noraebang_ night, whichever came first.

Once he reached the door to the dorms, he took out his keycard to let himself in and took out his keys from his pocket as he rode the elevator up to his floor. He stared at the Bigfoot keychain with a stupid smile as he used the wall to help him walk to his door, and then he let himself in, locked the door behind him, took off his shoes, then fell into his bed, holding the keychain in his hand as he passed out.


	10. Chapter 10

Jongin felt so nervous about meeting Jennie’s parents for the first time that he had spent the previous day going through his entire closet to try and figure out what to wear that was both presentable but natural, not wanting to look like he was trying too hard.

This had been a lot easier with Krystal since their parents had been friends and he had known her and her parents long before they had started dating. He never had been in exactly this position before, but he knew that Jennie was their whole world, meaning they probably would be judging him from the moment they saw him.

He went to the family room where he found his mother and Jonghee watching TV while discussing work things, and his sister gave a whistle when she saw him, while his mother narrowed her eyes.

“Too much?” he asked them. He thought slacks would go over with her parents better than jeans, but maybe his button-down shirt was overkill.

“You look like you’re going to a funeral instead of brunch,” his sister said. “But you look good.”

Jongin groaned and went back upstairs to his room to change the shirt, going for a bright turquoise polo shirt instead in hopes that it made him look nice and approachable. He was sure the fact that it was designer would give him brownie points with Jennie’s mom.

He went back downstairs again and got a thumbs-up from his sister, but not so much from his mother who just gave him another narrowed-eyed expression.

“What’s not working?” he asked his mom.

“The fact that you’re nervous about this,” she said. “What are you worried about? Why wouldn’t they like you?”

“Because I’m their daughter’s boyfriend?” Jongin reasoned. “You still don’t even like Jonghee’s husband.”

“Hey,” Jonghee said, “She likes him just fine.”

“No, I don’t,” his mother then said, “You could’ve done better. But Jennie couldn’t do better than Nini. They should be grateful that he’s even dating her.”

Jongin cringed at the sentiment, “Mom…”

“How are you going to say you don’t like him when he got you that all-expense-paid golf package in Cabo for your birthday?” Jonghee said.

“Cabo,” his mother lamented, “More impressive if it had been Tulum.”

“You don’t know even know where that is,” Jonghee said rolling her eyes, and Jongin chuckled.

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” he told them, grabbing his keys and letting them argue about nothing in peace.

He had made sure to check Waze for traffic and timing, and he arrived at the brunch spot in Irvine ten minutes early, giving himself enough time to check his hair in his rearview mirror and make sure he was mentally prepared for this. Then when he realized he’d never be mentally prepared for this, he got out of his car.

He had texted Jennie to know that he had arrived and was glad when she came outside to greet him. After a quick kiss on the lips, she looked him over and gave him a big smile of approval. Which he reciprocated because rarely did he see her so understated. She wore a long summer dress with a peach sweater. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and she wore simple diamond studs on her ears. He thought that this may have been the most stunning he had ever seen her yet.

“My parents are so excited to meet you,” she said, taking his hand and marching him inside. “They made a reservation, so we’ve already been seated.”

Jongin had a momentary panic, hoping they didn’t think he was late. He checked his phone quickly as he followed her and noticed that he technically had two minutes left to be on time.

They arrived at the table, where Jennie beamed with pride as she introduced him.

“This is Jongin,” she said, holding onto his arm, and he gave them a big smile.

“I’m so happy to finally meet the both of you,” he said, sounding proper and probably pretty dumb.

“And we’re happy to meet you,” Jennie’s mother said as her father nodded along. “We’ve seen you on Jennie’s Instagram, but pictures really don’t do you justice.”

“Oh, thank you,” Jongin said, feeling a bit shy by the compliment.

Jennie took the seat across from her father, which left Jongin to sit across from her mother, and he tried to not blush under her assessment of him as she continued to watch him.

“Jennie told us your family owns K Kitchen,” her father then said to him, and he nodded again.

“Yes, they do,” he confirmed verbally.

“Great restaurants,” her father said in approval. “I’ve done many business lunches and dinners here at the Irvine location.”

“Oh,” Jongin said, looking surprised, though he shouldn’t have been. He’d never met a Korean in the LA area that hadn’t gone to one of his family’s restaurants. In the sixteen years it had been open, it had become a staple of the Korean community in the OC and LA. “Thank you. I’ll let my parents know.”

“Dad, are you really going to talk about business things the whole time?” Jennie said though she didn’t seem put out by it. Instead, she was smiling and enjoying the interaction. “We haven’t even ordered yet.”

“Yes,” Jennie’s mother agreed. “He hasn’t even had a chance to look at the menu.”

That was true, but Jongin told her he didn’t mind. He did glance at the menu though and thought everything sounded pretty good, so he considered some options and waited to decide after he heard what everyone else ordered.

Their server came by to take their drink orders, and when Jennie’s father let her know they were ready to order their food, he went first and ordered the steak and eggs, which Jongin had been eyeing. Then Jennie’s mother ordered the Ahi salad, and Jongin thought he’d go with the steak and eggs for sure.

“I’ll have the same,” Jennie said, and Jongin looked at her surprised.

When it was his turn, he said he’d have the same as him, pointing to Jennie’s father, which made both of the parents chuckle.

“I’m surprised you didn’t order the pancakes,” Jongin asked Jennie once the server had walked away. That was usually her breakfast go-to whenever then went out to eat in the morning.

“Oh, Jennie can’t have pancakes,” her mother said before Jennie could answer, and Jennie nodded with a big smile. “It makes her face bloat,” her mother then explained, and Jongin looked even more surprised.

“Yeah, my face gets really round if I eat carbs in general,” she said, and he got the sense that she’d rather he not inquire further, so he let it go and said, “Oh,” instead.

“So, you don’t go to college,” Jennie’s father said to him, very much a statement and not a question. “And your parents were fine with that?”

“My parents believe in chasing your dreams. The restaurant was their dream and they put all their passion and effort into it, so they taught me and my sisters to pursue our dreams with passion. They’re very supportive of my dancing career.”

“It’s because you’re incredible at it,” her mother said. “Jennie shows us your work all the time. You’re so talented.”

“Thank you,” Jongin said, feeling humbled again.

“Jennie is a great dancer herself,” her mother then pointed out.

“I’m not,” Jennie said with her own humble smile.

“She was the best in her ballet class,” her mother insisted. “Honestly, none of the other dancers looked as graceful as her.”

“I believe it,” Jongin said, looking at her with amusement.

“Jennie is good at everything she does,” her father then said, and Jennie looked ready to hide under the table.

“Guys, stop,” she told them.

“It’s true,” her father said. “She’s going to take the fashion world by storm. I told her that she should set up a boutique in the mall, but she wants to finish school first.”

Jongin had a feeling he knew why she would say that. If people were jealous of her work now when she wasn’t even selling her designs, he could only imagine what Vivi and the other jealous people at her school would say if daddy gave her a boutique in his mall.

“That’s smart though,” he said instead, to try and spin it as a positive thing for her, “Because she’s learning so much and getting feedback from her professors, she’ll be able to put together a well-informed and proven vision for her boutique when she does decide to open it.”

“That’s a good point,” her father said, “But she can also learn by running one and getting the first-hand experience. Although, she was born with my business sense, so I have no doubts she wouldn’t make too many mistakes as she went along.”

“I have learned a lot from you,” Jennie told him with an emphatic nod, and Jongin was beginning to wonder how Jennie was able to smile through all this.

What her friends had interpreted as adoration and being spoiled by her parents didn’t seem like that at all to Jongin. The praise they gave her felt like an expectation they were setting in her mind of what they wanted her to be and do, and Jongin began to wonder if they’d expect her to dump him if he didn’t meet their standards today.

“I think it’s fine that she’s enjoying college instead,” her mother then said, thanking the server as she dropped off her mimosa. “You only get to have that experience once, and she’s doing it right. She’s part of so many activities and was even accepted into her sorority of choice. It’s really a shame you don’t get to experience college.”

He wanted to flat out ask them if that was going to be a huge problem for them, but he just sipped his water and smiled at her, not able to formulate a response for what she had said.

“Have you considered attending college in the future?” her father asked in the silence that followed.

It was definitely going to be a problem for them. He considered how best to answer this question, but he had been raised to be honest, so he simply said, “No.”

“Well, you’re young,” the older man said as he picked up his cup of coffee. “There’s plenty of time for you to change your mind.”

“Jongin’s going to be too busy dancing in music videos and going on tour as a backup dancer,” Jennie said, beaming with pride.

“Tours?” her father said, raising his eyebrow. “That sounds as if you’re going to be away a lot.”

“I haven’t booked one yet,” he told him, already bracing himself for where this was going to go.

“But as talented as you are,” her father prefaced, “I’m sure you will.”

“I hope so,” Jongin told him with a smile, hoping it derailed the train of thought coming from Jennie’s father.

He was glad when her father started telling some story about a concert he had gone to recently as if that somehow made sense as a segue, and he was even more glad when their food had been brought out. He focused on eating until her mother asked him a question out of the blue that almost made him choke.

“Have you ever considered modeling?”

Jongin had to take a drink of water before answering.

“Uh, no?” He gave her an amused look, and the woman shook her head as if that answer wouldn’t do.

“How have you not considered it? You have such a beautiful face. And your physique, with that dancer’s body, you should be a high-fashion model.”

“I know, right?” Jennie said in agreement, and Jongin shook his head at her.

“I don’t think I could be a model.”

“Of course you could,” her mother said, and then she waved her hand, “I’ll talk to Kara and set you up with an appointment.”

“I’m sorry?” Jongin said, sure he hadn’t heard her correctly.

“Kara Lee,” Jennie’s mother stated as if that would clarify what she had said. “We’re tennis buddies at the country club. She loves Jennie so much and always finds her great work, although Jennie has taken a little break from modeling to focus on college.”

“She’s my modeling agent,” Jennie finally explained to Jongin.

“I didn’t know you modeled,” Jongin said, not able to keep that statement in his head where it probably should have stayed so it didn’t give ammunition to her parents.

“You never told him?” Jennie’s mother gasped.

“I’m so focused on being a designer that it’s all I’ve talked about since I’ve met him,” Jennie explained quickly, with a small chuckle.

“Well,” Jennie’s mother said, motioning toward her daughter as she addressed Jongin, “Look at her. At the very least, you should have assumed she models.”

“I really should’ve guessed that,” Jongin agreed with a nod, suddenly thinking about how his mother was going to react when he told her about all of this.

“Either way, I’ll let Kara know,” her mother insisted. “I’ll show her your Instagram pictures.”

“You really don’t have to,” Jongin assured her, or more like secretly begged of her.

“It’ll be good for your dance career,” she told him as she dabbed a piece of her tuna in the salad dressing. “It’ll give you good exposure and help you book more jobs.”

“That’s very true,” Jennie’s father chimed in as he wiped his mouth. “My wife is an expert at these sorts of things.”

Oh, so it was a whole family problem of setting high expectations for each other. He imagined this couldn’t bode well for him in the long run.

“I’m very appreciative, but this is probably something I should run by my managers.”

“Oh,” Jennie’s mother said, “Yes, of course. Run it by them, and in the meantime, I’ll get the ball rolling by speaking with Kara. We’re playing doubles later this afternoon.”

He smiled and said nothing further, realizing that Jennie’s mother wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.

Jongin was saved from further embarrassment when Jennie’s mother focused on Jennie instead, letting her know that she needed to post more shots of her outdoor on her Instagram since her aesthetic was starting to become too “indoorsy” and reminding her of a list of events that she needed to attend and be seen at. When their brunch finally ended, Jongin had no idea what to think. He politely once again let Jennie’s parents know that it was nice to meet them as they said their goodbyes, and then he stayed quiet as he and Jennie walked toward his car.

He let out a deep breath once he was sitting behind the wheel, but he made no motion to actually start the car, needing to decompress for a moment.

“I know,” Jennie said before he could even utter a word. She placed her hand on his forearm, and said again, “I know.”

He didn’t even know where to begin, so he just looked at her and started with the most absurd thing first.

“You’re not allowed to eat pancakes?”

Jennie bit her lip and smiled a little, probably amused that he had started with that.

“You know I love pancakes. I just don’t eat them in front of my mother.”

“You eat pancakes a lot, and never once have I seen your face bloated from it.”

“I’m good at contouring.”

Jongin blinked at her, not giving her even a hint of thinking that response was funny.

Jennie cleared her throat.

“Well,” he said after a moment. “I think it’s clear they don’t approve of me.”

“No, that’s not true.” Jennie shook her head and squeezed his arm to reassure him, but he felt anything but. “They just wanted to get to know you. If I’m happy, they’re happy, and you make me happy.”

“They obviously have a problem with me not being in college,” he pointed out, wanting her to understand what transpired instead of sugarcoating it so that it fit her narrative of everything being fine.

“They’d just prefer it,” she explained, “But it’s fine that you’re not.”

“I’m not going to be a model,” he pointed out.

“You don’t have to be,” she told him. “Babe, you’re stressing out too much about this. They just wanted to meet you and get to know you.” She reiterated this, like somehow, he’d believe her the second time.

He took another deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts, then he took her hand into his and looked at her.

“I just don’t want them to say we can’t be together,” he told her, hoping she didn’t play off his sentiment and understood that he knew that it was a possibility and not a random fear he had made up.

“They won’t,” she told him, squeezing his hand. “They’re not like that. I know it doesn’t seem it, but they really do trust my judgment and are supportive of my decisions.”

“I believe that they are,” Jongin told her and squeezed her hand back.

He just wasn’t sure if Jennie realized how much they influenced her decisions to make sure that what she believed were her choices, were exactly what they wanted her to choose in the first place.

***

Jongin had expected a college basketball game to be the same as the high school ones he’d go to with Jongdae and Kyungsoo, but he soon discovered that it was louder and involved a lot more cameras. A band played as people filed into the arena, and the dance team was on the floor, hyping up the crowd, which made Jongin smile really wide as he enjoyed their performance and took note of some of the cool moves they were incorporating into their routine.

“Nachos, popcorn, garlic fries, hot dogs,” Jongdae counted off as he and Kyungsoo sat down with their concession purchases. “I think we got everything.”

“Pretzels,” Jongin said, holding up his contribution to the feast. He had purchased them as soon as he had entered the arena, feeling famished from his dance practices that day.

“And pretzels,” Jongdae nodded, sitting down and passing the garlic fries down so Jongin could start on those.

Kyungsoo sat between them, starting immediately on the nachos, and not appearing to have any intention of sharing. Which is why Jongdae had been smart enough to buy an extra one for him and Jongin to share.

“Baekhyun said he just got here,” Jongdae said, checking the text on his phone.

“Tell him to bring more napkins,” Jongin mentioned, and Jongdae texted him as he noticed the teams take to the court for warm-ups.

He looked over at Kyungsoo and noticed that he now was staring at the court with full interest as he ate a nacho.

Jongin had no idea what he had been expecting Chanyeol Park to be like. He knew he’d be attractive based on everyone’s reaction to him when he asked, but since he was Sehun’s brother, he had been expecting someone that looked like Sehun but a little older. Aside from the height, there hadn’t been much resemblance between the two and their general energies seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum.

So, he had been initially thrown off, but he had also been right in his assessment. The way that Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol, the way he acted around him, the way Chanyeol was tall and good looking in his own way, the way Kyungsoo now looked forward to attending his basketball games, all of that made it clear that Kyungsoo was actually into Chanyeol, and Jongin had a million warning signs flashing in his mind.

But maybe he was overreacting. Maybe. He made sure to come tonight to keep an eye on the situation, but also to be proven wrong and just have a fun guys night out with his best friends.

Baekhyun showed up carrying two personal-sized pizza boxes and two sodas and came bearing napkins as requested. He also had an unexpected guest with him that made all three of the friends light up.

“Hey, Emily!” Jongdae said, waving at the little six-year-old girl who was decked out in an adorable USC cheerleader dress. “Oh, pizza, we didn’t think to get pizza.”

“How could we forget the pizza?” Jongin laughed.

Baekhyun’s little sister waved back to them a little shyly and followed Baekhyun’s instructions to sit in the seat in front of Kyungsoo.

“Jisoo just parked,” Baekhyun let them know as he sat in front of Jongdae at an angle so he could still see them while he helped his sister get situated with her pizza, soda, and napkins. “This is Emily’s first-ever college basketball game so she’s excited.”

“It’s mine too,” Jongin said, and Emily looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, then focused on eating her pizza.

“I invited Lisa, but she’s rehearsing for a gig she landed,” Jongdae let them know.

Jongin hadn’t actually thought to invite Jennie, but now that he considered it, she might have enjoyed hanging out with Jisoo and cheering Chanyeol on. He made a mental note to invite her next time, even though he hoped he didn’t feel compelled to keep attending these games.

Jisoo joined them just as the players were being introduced, and she gave a loud cheer for Chanyeol when his name was announced before sitting down.

“Hey, Emily!” Jisoo said, giving the little girl a hug.

Emily returned it with a big smile and a soft, “Hi, Jisoo.”

“After the first quarter, we can go get cotton candy,” Baekhyun let his sister know.

Jongin and Jongdae both looked at each other and said, “Cotton candy.”

“You guys are dumb,” Kyungsoo said, smiling, but not taking his eyes off the court to look at them.

“You’re dumb,” Jongdae said with a shoulder-to-shoulder shove. “You only got nachos. These garlic fries were perfectly soggy.”

“You’re the only person in the world who likes their fries soggy,” Kyungsoo challenged back with his own shoulder nudge back.

Once the game started, the friends found themselves getting more hyped up each time Chanyeol got the ball or was involved in a play somehow, and when he scored his first basket of the night, they erupted—even Emily, who jumped up and down in place in excitement.

By the time halftime arrived, USC was up by eight, and the positive energy in the arena could be felt. Jongin didn’t know enough about college basketball to know that this was an important game, but as Baekhyun explained to them, there was a lot riding on it.

“They have to win this game to have a chance at being conference champs,” Baekhyun told his captive audience. “If they win their next game, they’re closer to that goal. They have to win their next three games to do it. If they lose any of those games, they still have to play strong enough and show that they’re worthy of being in it so that they can get a bid into the tournament by the selection committee.”

“No wonder Chanyeol’s been so absent,” Kyungsoo mused. Jongin knew well that Kyungsoo wasn’t getting to hang out with him as much as he wanted to. He and Jongdae had been hearing Kyungsoo’s complaints for a week about how Chanyeol had been either in the gym or at practice.

“Yeah, we’re not going to get to do another movie night or ever do our _noraebang_ until after all this is over,” Baekhyun nodded. “This is crunch time.”

Jongin felt relieved by this, but he did feel a little bad as he saw Kyungsoo bite his lip when he nodded in understanding.

“Hey, you wanna go say ‘hi’ to Mama Park?” Baekhyun then asked Emily. She stood up excited and cheered. Baekhyun laughed and said, “We’ll be right back,” before leaving with his sister.

“He’s such a good big brother,” Jongdae mused once he had left.

“He’s an amazing big brother,” Jisoo said, turning to face them better, and Jongin realized that this may have been the first time the three of them had ever hung out with her alone. “He’s been finding fun things for her to do to get her out of the house and away from all the drama.”

Baekhyun’s family always seemed to be in some sort of debacle. Jongin had long tuned it out when his sisters and mom gossiped about it, but based on their last few conversations, he knew that Baekhyun’s stepdad was being investigated for embezzlement. Baekhyun’s mom had filed for divorce because of it and had left the country with Baekhyun and Emily to get them away from the media circus surrounding it, but then the authorities found that she may have been complicit, so now she was under investigation as well.

“I feel so bad for them,” Jongin said, knowing that none of this could be easy for Baekhyun or Emily to be dealing with.

“I hope they find them innocent,” Jongdae agreed. “For their sake.”

“I actually think his mom will be found innocent,” Jisoo then said. “She cut her overseas commitments short specifically to come back and fully cooperate with the investigation. Unless she’s lying to Baekhyun about it, but Baekhyun believes her. She’s been such a punching bag for the gossip rounds for so long that I think people are making her part of the story a bigger deal than it is.”

“People do love their sensationalism,” Jongdae agreed.

It made sense to Jongin that people wanted to drag her into it to make it all more exciting somehow. Baekhyun’s mom had been a famous actress in Korea for so long that people thought they owned her. She had been at the height of her career when she had married her co-star in the K-drama she was on, and after having two sons with him, her popularity soared higher, becoming more respected than the first lady of Korea herself. But then they got divorced, and the general public had turned on her, putting the blame on her. In their eyes, no decent woman would leave a man that she had two small children with, especially one as dashing and handsome as her leading man.

“They feel like they own her,” Jongin mentioned. “I hear my mom and her friends talk about how they feel bad for her because people are still so obsessed with her that they won’t stop prying into her personal life.”

“They really are,” Jisoo agreed. “I mean, I get it. She’s gorgeous, still looks young, is super talented, and has a glamourous life.”

“Like Jennie,” Jongin beamed, not able to stop himself but knowing he probably should have kept that from slipping out to avoid the teasing he was about to get.

“Oh god,” Jongdae said, looking up.

“I need to throw up now,” Kyungsoo reacted as well, scrunching his nose.

“That was so sweet it was disturbing,” Jisoo agreed, looking like she wanted to gag.

“You are so whipped,” Jongdae said, reaching across to hit Jongin’s arm.

“I can’t sit by you,” Kyungsoo stated and pretended to move away from him.

Jongin flushed with embarrassment, but chuckled, running his hand through his hair.

“You’re not wrong though,” Jisoo said, shaking her head amused. “Baekhyun’s mom is who Jennie’s mom wishes she could be. She used to be on this reality show and whenever my mom and Chanyeol’s mom would watch it, they would talk about how she was obviously trying to be like her.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s raised Jennie to be like that,” Jongdae pointed out, then added with a smirk. “At least in Jongin’s opinion.”

Jongin gave him a glare and then smiled.

“That’s exactly why,” Jisoo confirmed. “But it’s funny because that’s not how Baekhyun’s mom raised him or any of her kids. Jennie’s mom has it all wrong.” She ended her statement with a dismissive wave.

Jongin nodded in agreement, then softly said, “Yeah.”

“That really sucks that Baek has to go through this again,” Kyungsoo said, looking concerned as he seemed to think about everything that had been said.

“This is his mom’s third divorce, right?” Jongdae asked, also looking as if he was thinking.

“Yeah,” Jisoo confirmed. “The second one was the worst for Baek. He was really upset about it because that guy was the one who pretty much raised him. He was so young when his mom divorced his real dad that he barely remembered him. Because, of course, it’s not like his real dad has done a great job of keeping in touch or coming out to visit him or his brother.”

Jisoo looked ready to strangle any man in general at that point, and Jongdae very pointedly said, “Men suck,” which Jisoo said, “Amen” to and then continued.

“Baek isn’t as torn up about this one,” Jisoo explained. “After the second divorce, he made it a point to not get too attached to this new stepdad. But he knows exactly what Emily’s going through, so he’s doing his best to be there for her and make sure she knows everything will be okay. His biggest concern is Emily and his mom.”

“Understandable,” Jongin said, and he noticed Baekhyun heading back over with Emily and let the friends know.

Kyungsoo switched topics just in time to how he should’ve gotten more nachos, and Jongdae laughed and poked Kyungsoo’s tummy to say it was already full of fake cheese sauce and couldn’t handle more.

“I have a separate stomach for fake nacho cheese sauce,” Kyungsoo stated with a “hmph” at the end, and Jongdae laughed.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Baekhyun said, sitting back down. “I told Sehun to come hang out with us, but he said he’s too nervous about the game to be any fun, so he’s just going to stay with his parents.”

Jongin smiled and looked toward the area Chanyeol’s family sat in, noticing Sehun staring out at the court. “I’ll have to say hi to him before we leave,” he said.

“Yeah, we’ll all meet up after,” Baekhyun told him. “We’ll make sure to congratulate Chanyeol on his win personally.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Jisoo said, reaching over to shove Baekhyun’s arm, which made Emily laugh.

“I like how you’re leaving out the other four people playing with him,” Jongdae pointed out as he tried to eat what was left at the bottom of the popcorn box that they had already annihilated by the end of the first quarter.

“Please, Chanyeol is the best player out there,” Baekhyun said with pride.

Jongin looked over to see Kyungsoo nodding in agreement and almost wanted to smack him to break him out of his Chanyeol daze.

But he let it go as they heard the buzzer signaling the start of the next half, and the energy picked up all over again, USC getting control of the ball right away to set the pace for the rest of the night.

It was rather amusing, to Jongin, to watch both the game on the court and the one next to him. He had never seen Kyungsoo so invested in a sporting event, and at one point his best friend was at the edge of his seat, holding his hair as he watched the game with wide eyes. Jongin wanted to take a picture of him, so he could show it to him later and point out how he was acting, but instead, he texted Jongdae that Kyungsoo was basketball-whipped, and Jongdae sent him back a row of the tears-of-joy emoji.

USC won the game, and Jongin got as caught up in the celebration as everyone else, cheering and high-fiving all his friends and even the people sitting behind them. They headed out toward the player exit of the arena and waited for Chanyeol to come out, and Jongin watched Chanyeol’s mother interacting with Emily, asking her if she enjoyed the basketball game.

Jongin noticed Sehun seemed much more relaxed now, and he stood beside him with his arms crossed to combat the chill of the night. “You looked super stressed in that last quarter,” Jongin mentioned to him.

“I was,” Sehun nodded. “I know how much this means to Chanyeol, and I didn’t want him to be disappointed.”

Jongin almost cooed, but he didn’t want to embarrass him, so he told him he understood instead. “I felt that way when my sister opened her dessert café,” Jongin told him. “I told everyone I could about it because I didn’t want her to be disappointed if no one showed up.”

“Yeah,” Sehun said. “I would’ve done the same.”

Jongin smiled and thought to himself that it was a good thing Rosé had found him. Lord knew she needed someone like him in her life.

When Chanyeol finally came out, the friends cheered for him, and Baekhyun tackled him with a hug that made everyone laugh.

“We should go eat and celebrate,” Chanyeol’s mother said, but Chanyeol shook his head.

“I have to be up early for practice.”

“Fine,” Sehun said, “I’ll eat your portion at BCD.”

“Why would we go to BCD when K Kitchen is also open?” Jongdae said, and Jongin’s eyes widened, but Jongdae wasn’t looking at him to notice.

“Who invited you?” Baekhyun said, his arms still around Chanyeol.

“You guys haven’t met my new friends,” Chanyeol then said with a big smile to his parents, and then he pointed to the three of them, which made Jongin feel even more exposed. “That’s Jongdae,” Chanyeol began, “Kyungsoo, and Jongin.”

“His family owns K Kitchen,” Jisoo took the liberty of pointing out to the parents, and then, if that hadn’t been enough, she added, “And he’s Jennie’s new boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol’s mom said, suddenly very interested in Jongin. “So very nice to meet you.”

“I love K Kitchen,” Chanyeol’s dad then said. “We should all go celebrate at K Kitchen.”

Jongin liked attention when he was performing, but he didn’t care much for it when he wasn’t, so in a moment of panic, he pointed at Jongdae and said, “His family owns Grace and Light Ministries.”

Now it was Jongdae’s turn to look like he needed to disappear, and Jongin softly apologized to him.

“Really?” Chanyeol’s mother said, now her interest fully diverted.

“Are you the pastor’s son?” Chanyeol’s father then asked, surprised and needing to make sure.

“I am,” Jongdae said with a nod. The fact that more words didn’t follow highlighted just how embarrassed he probably felt.

“Incredible,” Chanyeol’s father said, and then he looked at Kyungsoo and asked, “And your parents?”

“His dad’s an exec at KBS America,” Chanyeol answered for him, and Kyungsoo looked surprised that he had. “And his mom is a lead engineer at SpaceX.” Chanyeol looked so proud of this as if they were his parents too or something.

“Wow,” Chanyeol’s mother said, her eyes really taking Kyungsoo in at that moment, “You must be so intelligent.”

The friends laughed, and Kyungsoo looked two seconds away from punching them all.

“He hates school and is going to be an actor,” Chanyeol said with a laugh of his own, and Jongin noticed that Kyungsoo did not look as if he wanted to punch Chanyeol at all.

“Well, I’m so happy that I’ve met all of you,” Chanyeol’s mother said, eyeing them again. “You’re more than welcome to join us for our late dinner.”

“Sadly, I think we have to be up early as well,” Jongdae said, saving them all from what would have been the most awkward dinner ever. “But you should still go to K Kitchen instead of BCD.”

“Oh, we will,” Chanyeol’s mother said with a chuckle.

Chanyeol hugged his parents and Sehun goodbye, and then Jisoo mentioned she had to get going as well.

“I have a paper due in the morning that I still need to finish,” she explained, giving Chanyeol a goodbye kiss on the cheek.

“And I have to get this one home,” Baekhyun said, running his hand through Emily’s hair. The little girl leaned against him, looking sleepy as she wore Baekhyun’s jacket, which almost enveloped her. “It’s way past her bedtime.”

“It’s way past mine too,” Chanyeol nodded, giving Baekhyun and Emily both a hug.

“I’m headed to the parking lot too,” Jongin said to Jisoo and Baekhyun, “I’ll walk with you guys.”

“Dude, thanks so much for coming to the game,” Chanyeol then said to him.

“It was fun,” Jongin told him with a smile. “Congrats again on the win.”

“Come to the next one too, okay?” Chanyeol told him, and Jongin said he’d try.

He walked with Jisoo, Baekhyun, and Emily to the parking garage and wondered how best to ask Baekhyun the question that he most needed answered, but he didn’t want to ask in front of Jisoo. So, he waited until after they had gotten off the elevator onto their floor to ask since Jisoo had come late and was parked on a higher floor than them.

As they walked toward their cars, Jongin tried to figure out the right words, but then just blurted out, “So, Chanyeol.”

“So, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked.

Jongin knew he had to tread carefully since Chanyeol was Baekhyun’s best friend, so he considered a nice way of asking what he wanted to know.

“He and Kyungsoo are spending a lot of time together, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Baekhyun said, his smile making it clear that he was happy about this.

“Is Chanyeol aware that Kyungsoo is gay?” Jongin decided to just go for it, knowing that he couldn’t drag this out if he wanted to get to the bottom of it all.

“Oh,” Baekhyun said, realizing why Jongin was bringing it all up. “No, not at all. He’s clueless about things like that, so I don’t think he’s even considered it.”

Jongin was afraid of that, so he asked the next question that he was scared to get an answer for.

“Is Chanyeol gay?”

“Uh…” Baekhyun’s head cocked to the side, and he looked like he wasn’t sure how to answer the question. “You know, I… I mean, I guess the answer is ‘no’. No, he’s not.”

“Why did you have to think about it then?” Jongin said, hoping that further explanation made this all better because suddenly everything was even worse.

“Chanyeol’s Chanyeol. I don’t know how to explain it. But why are you asking?”

Jongin stopped walking as they reached his car and let out a sigh, running his hand through his hair, and then saying, “You remember Yixing, right?”

Baekhyun lost his smile, and nodded, then looked confused. “Wait, that’s not…”

Jongin motioned with his hand for him to not worry. “I know. I know that Chanyeol isn’t Yixing, and I know that it’s not what the situation is. I’m not worried about Chanyeol here. I’m worried about Kyungsoo. The way he looks at Chanyeol, the way he’s suddenly invested in a sport he’s never cared about, it’s all… worrisome.”

Baekhyun nodded, and Jongin was grateful that he understood without Jongin being able to eloquently explain it.

“I don’t think you have to be worried,” Baekhyun told him, but then he bit his lip and looked toward the cars beside them for a moment, and then back at Jongin, “I’ll talk to Chanyeol though. He should know, and Kyungsoo’s not in the closet, so I do think it’s a little suspicious that he hasn’t mentioned it to Chanyeol himself.”

“Yeah,” Jongin said with another sigh and scratch of his head.

“Don’t worry though,” Baekhyun said, patting him on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”

Jongin nodded, even though he didn’t feel certain of that.


	11. Chapter 11

Chanyeol couldn’t be in a better mood as he walked to the dorms with Jongdae and Kyungsoo. And although Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s campus apartment was a bit further than Chanyeol’s dorm, they walked him home anyway, which gave Chanyeol a chance to find out what Kyungsoo really thought of the game.

“And when you grabbed the ball straight out of that one guy’s hands and ran it back for the goal, I couldn’t stop jumping,” Kyungsoo said, laughing about it in a way that made Jongdae cackle.

Chanyeol laughed too and said, “We don’t really say ‘goal’ in basketball, but yeah, that part was awesome. I couldn’t believe how distracted he got during that play. They didn’t see our formation coming.”

“It was so cool,” Kyungsoo said, smiling up at him, and Chanyeol beamed and had a weird urge to hold his hand, to feel the energy that he was giving him, but instead Chanyeol chuckled and bragged about how it was going to be even cooler each game after that.

And it was, except for the part where Kyungsoo wasn’t there at their away games to tell him how exciting the game had been, or to give his observations or reactions, or to just be present. It’s why Chanyeol was excited about their next home game. Both because if they won it, there’s no way the selection committee could omit them from the Division I tournament, and also because he knew Kyungsoo would be there to continue to be his lucky charm.

As he took the court for this important game, Chanyeol felt confident that they could win it. Not only was his lucky charm in the crowd, but the type of energy that fueled him during a home game couldn’t be beat. He had seen his family in their usual spot, and he spotted his friends. The group seemed to be bigger, and Chanyeol realized that it was because Jongdae had brought along Lisa, and Jongin had brought Jennie. Baekhyun had brought Emily again, and she was too adorable as she copied Jisoo, who taught her a cheer to do.

Everything was perfect, and he intended to make sure it remained a perfect night. But the other team had their own agenda, and, in his mind, so did the refs, as he kept getting drawn into fouls that they didn’t hesitate to call. He hated when other teams played dirty, but he could play dirtier, and he looked for the right opportunity to rebound a shot from the opposing team and take off running for a dunk before they could realize what had happened.

Unfortunately, this made them more determined to get him out of the game, which they did, right at the start of the fourth quarter. He wasn’t one to argue with a ref’s call, but he couldn’t help himself from yelling at the man in black and white pinstripes that the other team had done it on purpose. He barely registered his own teammates and coach grabbing him to pull him away before he got ejected for arguing.

“They’ve been calling everything against us all night,” his coach told him as he steered him toward the bench. “Just sit.”

“It’s alright, man,” one of his teammates told him as Chanyeol petulantly sat on the chair, too upset to take the towel from their assistant coach who tried to hand it to him. “We got this,” his teammate said and pat his shoulder before taking the court.

Chanyeol just dropped his head into his hands, trying not to shake too much in anger and disappointment at not being able to finish out the game. The score was so close, and the other team kept getting more aggressive by the minute, sending his team to the line more than usual to slow down any momentum they could build.

At some point, he felt someone massaging his shoulders, trying to get him to calm down, and he knew it was Minseok, who always seemed to be the best out of all the trainers and coaches on the team at getting him to breathe and focus on the bigger picture.

“They’re playing dirty and the refs are calling everything against us,” Minseok said to him, “Nothing you could’ve done.”

Chanyeol knew this intellectually, but he didn’t want their regular season to end like this. Not at home. Not in front of his family and friends.

So, he switched tactics and got up from his chair, clapping and cheering as their point guard shot a three to keep them alive and tied. He joined their coach, shouting out encouragement and advice, and joining the huddle to put in his own observations and ideas during time outs.

And somehow, despite the cards stacked against them, it worked.

Chanyeol couldn’t believe it when the buzzer rang just a split second after his team sank a two-pointer to break them out of the tie and give them the win. He ran onto the court in disbelief, yelling and with his hands on his head in shock. They were going to the tournament. They had done it. Their team hadn’t even been projected to be serious contenders, but here they were, celebrating on their home court with the entire place erupting in noise and celebration.

At some point, an ESPN reporter pulled him aside to ask about his feelings on getting fouled out in such an important game.

“Our team is strong and has a lot of depth,” he said, not even being diplomatic. It was the truth, and every word that followed was honest. “We got this far in this season because every person on this team pulls their own weight and rises to the challenge, so either way, I knew we were going to win.”

Okay, maybe that last part had been a bit too cocky, but he had believed it, so he said it.

“You were tied the whole way,” the reporter pointed out, “There was a moment there where it looked like you guys weren’t going to pull ahead.”

“You know, everyone came here to win tonight. It was an important game, and everyone did what they had to do. I think it says a lot that we won under those circumstances.”

“It sure does,” the reporter said, before thanking him and throwing it over to another reporter with another player.

He fielded the same types of questions from the Pac-12 Networks’ reporter, and then a local affiliate, and finally, when he was done, he rejoined his team on the court and waved at his friends and family who had come down closer to the court to jump around and cheer him on to properly embarrass him.

Chanyeol loved every second of this moment, the attention, the adoration of the crowd, the importance being placed on him by the reporters, and especially the other teams who thought they had to take him out of the game to have a chance.

He was on such a high that he didn’t want the night to ever end. When he finally left the arena, showered and still with the hugest smile on his face, his eyes landed first on Kyungsoo, who this time ran with Baekhyun to tackle him and give him a hug.

“You were amazing,” Kyungsoo told him.

“Except when you got benched,” Baekhyun teased, and Chanyeol swiped the side of his head in retaliation.

“Let’s go celebrate at K Kitchen!” his mother declared, and everyone laughed, except Jongin, who hid behind Jennie in embarrassment.

Chanyeol took a moment to give hugs to all his friends before they all left to go their separate ways, and he looked at Kyungsoo mid-hug and told him, “Thanks for wearing your red hoodie and being my lucky charm again.”

“Am I?” Kyungsoo asked him, his eyes looking up at him in a mischievous way, “Or is it the hoodie?”

“We’re not going to test it,” Chanyeol said, and he let him go, even though he oddly didn’t want to. There was something about Kyungsoo’s body that felt good in his arms. He’d hugged Baekhyun a million times and it wasn’t the same. Maybe it was because Kyungsoo was smaller and more compact somehow. His slender shoulders definitely fit better in his embrace than Baekhyun’s broad ones. “You’re required to show up and keep wearing it no matter what.”

“Fine,” Kyungsoo said, and he put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie with a smile as he continued to look at him while he walked backwards to stand back next to Jongdae.

Chanyeol wished he was going out to celebrate with his friends instead, but instead he headed to the parking garage to where his parents had parked and got into the backseat.

“I can’t believe you fouled out,” Sehun said to him, sitting beside him as their dad drove.

“I can’t believe the refs were being that horrible,” his mother said. “They were paid. And you guys still won.”

“Why would they be paid?” Sehun asked, and Chanyeol smiled and listened to his mother talk about how people do things like that all the time.

He noticed his phone light up and checked to see a message from Kyungsoo.

_For the record, I thought you were amazing even when you got benched._

Chanyeol bit his lip to keep from being too obvious about how happy he was to see Kyungsoo’s text, and he replied back.

_It sucked, but I made the most of it._

_I had never seen you that upset before._

_Yeah, sorry. I get like that sometimes._

_Don’t be sorry. I liked it._

Chanyeol looked a little confused by the response, not sure what he would like about it, but he just replied with a laughing emoji.

Kyungsoo then replied with the upside-down face emoji, and now Chanyeol was more confused. What did he mean by that?

He didn’t want to ask, in case he was supposed to know, so he just replied with “LOL” and put his phone away as he listened to his parents and brother dissect and critique the game.

***

With the last game of the regular season done, Chanyeol could turn some of his focus back to school and friends as they waited to find out who they’d be playing and where for the first round of the tournament. So, he suggested in a text to Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Jongdae that they should finally do another movie night.

They were all down for it, and for the rest of the days leading up to it, Chanyeol couldn’t help how excited he felt about it. With all the pressure from the past weeks spent living, breathing, eating, and sleeping basketball, he was ready for some downtime with his friends.

He was also ready to work on the music he had to neglect during that time, putting in some extra hours on the piano in one of the studios, then switching to guitar in another whenever his allotted time had run out before the next student was scheduled to use it.

It was while trying to work out a song he had come up with that he was joined by Baekhyun, who had peeked inside before walking in.

“I checked the piano room first,” he said as he walked over, dropping his backpack on one of the desks and then sitting in the one in front that was right in front of Chanyeol.

“Yeah, I got kicked out, so I came over here.”

“Hate when that happens,” Baekhyun said, and Chanyeol noticed that he seemed to be a bit more subdued than usual.

“Everything alright?” Chanyeol asked. He stopped playing with the strings and looked at his best friend, trying to figure out if something had happened with his family situation. Baekhyun was generally really good about handling all the drama his family usually went through, but sometimes it got to him. Chanyeol wondered if this was one of those times.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun replied. He sucked in his bottom lip as if thinking, then looked at him and said, “So, I wanted to bring something up to you, but I didn’t want to bring it up while you had all your games because I know how you are and it would have distracted you. But now that it’s done, or at least this part of it is done, I figured I should… you know, bring it up.”

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol asked, now looking concerned. He placed the guitar down and then looked at Baekhyun.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Baekhyun said. “It’s more like, something you should know. Or maybe you do know, but it seems like you don’t.”

Chanyeol continued to look at him, waiting for him to get to the point.

“You’ve been hanging out a lot with Kyungsoo, and it seems you guys really get along, so I’m not sure if he’s mentioned this to you,” Baekhyun said, and Chanyeol felt nervous all of a sudden, “but, you know he’s gay, right?”

Chanyeol blinked and then blinked again.

“So, you didn’t know,” Baekhyun said as if confirming it for himself.

Not only did Chanyeol not know, but now he was confused as to why Kyungsoo hadn’t told him. They had spent a good enough amount of time together. There had been opportunities for him to be told.

“You’re not freaking out about this, are you?” Baekhyun then asked him, and Chanyeol realized that he was no longer looking at Baekhyun and, instead, staring off at nothing with his eyebrows knitted.

“No,” Chanyeol said, but in reality, he very much was freaking out.

“No, you’re not,” Baekhyun said, “Because it’s not a big deal, right? Like, you know, I’m bi, and that’s not a big deal in our friendship either. Same thing. Right?”

Chanyeol felt even more confused now, and he blinked at Baekhyun, trying to wrap his head around this. “It’s the same thing?” Chanyeol asked, more because he wasn’t sure what to say. “I mean, your bi thing was just a phase though, right?”

“Oh boy,” Baekhyun said, running his hand over his face. “Yeol, don’t make me hit you. I’m bi, and Kyungsoo is gay, and you’re totally cool with that, right? Because if you’re not, then this friendship is going to have to be over.”

“No,” Chanyeol said, trying to snap out of it, “No, of course it’s not a problem. I just… why didn’t he tell me?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun said, and he did look a little relieved now. “He’s not in the closet, so I’m confused about that too, but maybe he just didn’t feel like he could trust you yet.”

That bothered Chanyeol. They had definitely hung out enough and shared enough for Kyungsoo to trust him. Chanyeol had trusted Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol didn’t tend to trust anyone. Shit, maybe he shouldn’t have trusted him.

“You look really upset by this,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“I’m just bothered that he didn’t tell me,” Chanyeol tried to explain. “That it came from you instead of him.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded. “I understand that. Maybe you can ask him at movie night about it.”

Movie night. Right. That was still happening. His lips twisted to the side, and he didn’t have any specific thoughts. It was more like he felt unbalanced all of a sudden, but he wasn’t sure why.

“We’re still doing movie night, right?” Baekhyun asked him, and Chanyeol cut his eyes back to Baek.

“Yeah, Kyungsoo’s picking the movie. Instead of pizza, I was thinking we could order Thai or something.”

Baekhyun stopped looking at him with worry and gave him a soft smile.

“I’m down for Thai.” He then got up from the desk and grabbed his backpack, “I’ll let you get back to practice. See you tomorrow night.”

Chanyeol tried to focus back on his guitar playing, but all he could think about was this new information. He kept thinking about Kyungsoo, wondering if there was anything about him that he should have noticed to make him realize he was gay.

He knew better than to rely on stereotypes, but it didn’t stop him from thinking that Kyungsoo didn’t “act” gay. And he knew that Baekhyun would slap him for even having that thought, so he shook his head and thought instead about moments they had shared, from sitting beside each other for their first movie night, to sneaking up to the balcony at Rosé’s birthday party, to even the basketball games. Chanyeol had enjoyed every single one of those moments with a new friend, but what if Kyungsoo had thought they were something else. Wait, what if Kyungsoo liked him? Would Kyungsoo like him?

He thought about Rosé’s birthday and how Kyungsoo had flat out asked him if Jongin was his type. Had he been trying to find out if Chanyeol was gay too?

“Oh, crap,” Chanyeol said, running his hand through his hair.

He knew he had issues with this, and he didn’t like to think too much about it. People had accused him of being gay before because he’d never had a girlfriend, but he always tried to explain that he didn’t have time to think about girlfriends in general. He found lots of girls attractive. He thought Jisoo was really pretty, but she was a friend and he had only ever seen her as like a sister, so that didn’t count. He thought Jennie was kinda cute, but she was too annoying for him to consider liking her. Lisa was nice and pretty, and Jisoo had even tried to hook them up since Lisa had never had a boyfriend, but Chanyeol had been too embarrassed and shy to follow through on it. Maybe he should have.

The thoughts plagued him for the rest of the night, and by the time he woke up, he thought he had managed to push them aside enough. That was until he walked into class and saw Kyungsoo, who smiled at him and greeted him in a way that made Chanyeol kind of freak out inside.

“Hi,” Chanyeol said back, and he thought he had given him a normal smile, but the way Kyungsoo looked at him made him think that his face may not have really been normal. He sat down and cleared his throat as he opened his laptop.

“You okay?” Kyungsoo asked him.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, not looking at him. “I really hope I can catch up in this class. I’m still behind a couple of chapters.”

“I can help,” Kyungsoo offered, and Chanyeol resisted the urge to shake his head. He looked at him instead and gave him a thankful smile.

“I think I’m good. I just need to find the time to read through them.”

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes a little as if trying to figure something out, and Chanyeol knew he had to not let this affect things. Except that it kinda did. Kyungsoo hadn’t been honest with him, and now that a day had almost passed since finding that out, Chanyeol had to concede that maybe that had affected him more than he thought.

Once class was over, Chanyeol packed his things up quickly.

“Are we still on for movie night tonight?” Kyungsoo asked him, still looking at him suspiciously.

“Yeah…” Chanyeol said, but then he realized that he needed to be honest. At least one of them should be. “Actually, I’m not sure.”

“What’s going on, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo said, and the fact that he used his name probably meant that he definitely knew something was not right.

Chanyeol looked over at where a student was asking the professor a question, and he said, “Let’s talk outside.”

Kyungsoo followed him out, and once they were outside and away from other people, Chanyeol ran his hand through his hair, not sure how to say what he wanted to say, but knowing he just had to say something. So, he blurted out the important question on his mind.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were gay?”

The way Kyungsoo tensed up made Chanyeol think that maybe he should have asked it in a different way, but he waited for a response anyway, and when Kyungsoo didn’t give him one, he added more context.

“Baekhyun told me. He said you were out, so he assumed I knew, but I didn’t. Why did I hear it from him and not from you?”

“Because I didn’t want to freak you out,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol wasn’t sure what he thought of that explanation, so this time he stayed quiet to let Kyungsoo explain himself better. “I was trying to figure out if you were too. But then you got super busy and it never came up.”

Chanyeol wasn’t sure if he bought it, but he decided to at least confirm things for him.

“I’m not gay,” Chanyeol said. “I told you that at Rosé’s party. And that was a good time for you to reply with the fact that you were.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo said, and he did seem to understand. “But I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Just in case you weren’t cool with it.”

“The moment?” Chanyeol said. “It wasn’t a moment. We were just hanging out.”

Kyungsoo bit his lip, and Chanyeol now realized that they were hanging out with each other in two completely different ways. Or at least that’s how it seemed. Maybe Chanyeol needed to confirm that as well.

“Do you like me?” Chanyeol asked him. “Like, are you into me?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said, but he seemed to just be saying it to appease him. “I mean, I liked hanging out with you. I don’t make friends easy, and I thought we just clicked. It’s, again, why I didn’t bring it up. Because of course, straight men always think that gay men who want to be friends just want to be friends because they’re into them.”

Now it was Chanyeol’s turn to be unsure, and he looked at Kyungsoo, not knowing what to say to that. Was he just being egotistical?

“Anyway,” Kyungsoo said, looking a little exasperated, “if you don’t want to be friends anymore because of this, whatever. It’s fine.”

“I didn’t say that,” Chanyeol said, not knowing what he wanted in that moment, but not thinking it had to be that dramatic. “I also don’t make friends easily, and it’s because I don’t trust people. I trusted you, but you weren’t even completely honest with me, so I’m upset about this.”

Kyungsoo looked at him and then sighed as he looked down. When he looked back up at him, it was to say, “It’s really hard for me to trust people too. And letting people know I’m gay, is one of the hardest things for me to trust people with. Yes, I’m out. But it doesn’t mean I run around letting the world know if it isn’t necessary. You don’t always know how people will react, especially if they’re jocks.”

Chanyeol did understand that, and maybe he should have been a little offended by the stereotype, but he let it go because maybe this all came down to the fact that they both had taken a chance on being friends with each other since it was hard for them to trust people. Though now it was obvious that they still hadn’t gotten to the part where either of them knew if they really could trust the other.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said, putting his hands on his hips as he thought about this and watched students hurrying to their next class. “Okay,” he said again, looking back at Kyungsoo, who just stared at him. “I get that. Maybe we just weren’t sure how much we could trust each other yet, so let’s just make sure to be honest with each other from now on.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said, and then he looked from side to side as if thinking about something before he looked at him and said, “Yes, I’m attracted to you.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and then he felt indignant, “Wait, you just made me feel bad for assuming.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo sighed. “I wasn’t at first. That’s not why I wanted to be friends with you at first, but the more we hung out, the more I had to accept that I thought you were hot.”

Chanyeol’s cheeks felt a little warm, and he wanted to return the compliment in some way, but he was afraid Kyungsoo would get the wrong idea, so he just softly said, “Thanks,” instead.

“Anyway,” Kyungsoo continued, “Jongin was my first crush and we’ve managed to remain best friends, so it’s not like I don’t know how to be friends with people I find attractive. But if it’s going to bother you, then that’s a different story.”

Chanyeol thought that made all the sense in the world. Even he had thought Jongin was good looking, so of course Kyungsoo, actually being gay, would have thought the same thing.

“That’s cute,” Chanyeol told him. “And no, it wouldn’t bother me. I mean, Baekhyun says he’s bi, and that doesn’t bother me.”

Kyungsoo looked at him a little oddly, then said, “He is bi. I mean, that’s why he says it?”

“Right, I just…” Chanyeol crossed his arms, and then realized that might look defensive, so he dropped his arms and shrugged. “I always thought it was a phase he went through. He’s always hooking up with girls. I mean, he’s hooking up with Jisoo now, which is strange on many levels, but either way, she’s a girl and all that.”

“He hooks up with boys too,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“No, he just had a crush on this one guy in school, which is what made him think he was bi. But he stopped having a crush on that guy and has only been with girls since then.”

Kyungsoo looked at him in a way that made Chanyeol slowly realize that Baekhyun may have been keeping something from him.

“He’s…” Kyungsoo said and then stopped, almost looking at him disbelieving, but then he seemed to realize something, and just shrugged.

“He’s?” Chanyeol asked. “You started saying something. You have to finish it.”

“Maybe you and Baek should talk about it sometime,” Kyungsoo told him instead.

Chanyeol shook his head, now wondering what he didn’t know, and then he had a thought and almost looked shocked at Kyungsoo as he asked, “Did you and Baek have a thing?”

Kyungsoo looked surprised by the question and then started laughing, like to the point where he kept giggling and couldn’t answer. Chanyeol wasn’t sure if that was a yes or no, so he waited him out, probably looking annoyed because that’s how he felt at the moment.

“Oh my God, that’s so funny,” Kyungsoo said, waving his hand in front of his face as if he needed to guide oxygen into his mouth. “That’s… I’ll have to tell him that.”

Chanyeol crossed his arms, very much defensively and on purpose this time, and gave him a small glare, still needing an answer.

“No, duh, we’re definitely not each other’s types,” Kyungsoo said, putting his hand on his chest as he took a deep breath to calm down. “But I’m guessing that maybe he didn’t feel comfortable sharing his hookups with guys with you. He’s bi. Sorry to break it to you.”

Chanyeol’s lips twisted to the side, now upset with Baekhyun for not telling him any of this. And then he started wondering who else in his life might be bi or gay that he didn’t know about. Suddenly this all felt like a lot.

“Anyway,” Kyungsoo said, focusing on him instead and looking a bit subdued again. “I don’t mind still being friends, but if you mind, I understand. I mean, I don’t understand, but I get it. Or something.”

Chanyeol tried to push his thoughts away, and he looked at Kyungsoo, taking him in and saying, “I don’t mind.”

“Hm,” Kyungsoo said like he didn’t really believe him.

Chanyeol didn’t blame him. He was too confused to know what he really thought was the best idea right now.

“Anyway, I have to go to the gym for a bit before my next class,” Chanyeol told him. “We can talk more at movie night.”

“We’re still doing that?” Kyungsoo said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, why not?” Chanyeol shrugged. “I’m curious about the movie you picked.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said, a soft smile on his lips. “See you tonight then.”

Chanyeol nodded at him and then raised a hand to indicate “bye” and walked away, letting his brows furrow again as he thought about what all of this meant.

The whole thing bothered him enough that in the middle of his weight training, Minseok felt the need to comment on it.

“While I admire your current pace and intensity,” Minseok told him as he stood with his arms crossed watching him, “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Chanyeol let out a grunt as he dropped the bar back onto the rack and sat up, letting out a few deep breaths. He felt sweat gliding down his face and grabbed his towel to wipe it off.

“Sorry, I have a lot on my mind,” Chanyeol said, folding up the towel and wiping again.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Minseok said, kicking his foot against Chanyeol’s, “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” Chanyeol said, not sure how he would even explain any of this to one of the team’s trainers, even if it was his favorite trainer and the one he did confide in most.

Granted, it had been natural for Minseok to become his favorite since, once he joined the team, Minseok immediately favored him and offered to put in extra time to help his fellow Korean take over the basketball world. It had been amusing at first, but Chanyeol came to appreciate just how much Minseok did look out for him.

“It’s something,” Minseok said, “But I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“I just found out Kyungsoo is gay,” Chanyeol blurted out. Okay, so maybe he did need to talk about it with someone who would be objective about the whole thing. “And I don’t have a problem with that,” he quickly said, though he wasn’t sure what Minseok’s opinion was about things like that, but still, it felt like he needed to clarify. “But he didn’t tell me, and I found out from my other friend, and it rubbed me the wrong way that he didn’t tell me. Also, I found out that the other friend is actually bi, and I always thought it was a phase, but he just hasn’t been telling me about his hookups with guys. So, now I feel like none of my friends trust me to talk about these things, and now that I think about it…”

Chanyeol had no idea why he suddenly was spilling so much, but maybe it was because all his thoughts were finally coming together in a way that made sense.

“…I wonder if they feel this way because I’ve never had a relationship. Like, do they think that just because I’m a virgin they can’t talk to me about stuff like this?”

Minseok bit his lip hard and seemed a little amused, and Chanyeol may have blushed, but Minseok waited a beat and then took a breath and smiled at him.

“I don’t think it’s something you need to take personally,” Minseok told him. “It’s probably just as you said, they may not think you’d be interested in hearing about those types of things. I’m sure if you talked with them about it and let them know that you’re fine with those types of conversations, they would include you in them. Unless you’re not?”

“Huh?” Chanyeol asked. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You always have to take into account why people would feel a certain way,” Minseok explained. “If your friends don’t talk about things like that with you, then you may have to consider that you’re putting out energy that makes them think that. Maybe they think you don’t want to hear about it.”

“I’ve never said I don’t,” Chanyeol told him.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Minseok reminded him. “Either way, you won’t know for sure unless you confront the issue with them. Just talk to your friends about it.”

Chanyeol decided he’d do just that, and he thanked Minseok for the advice. He finished out the rest of his hour with a better-paced workout, focusing and not letting his thoughts and emotions distract him again.

As he left the training facility, he realized that movie night was going to be really awkward if he didn’t sort things out with Baekhyun, so he texted him to meet him early at his place that night so they could talk. After his last class of the day and some court time with his teammates to go over some practice drills, he picked up a snack then headed home to shower, eat, and pick up his room to make it presentable.

It was in decent shape by the time Baekhyun showed up, and Chanyeol let him in then sat back on his bed, looking over the Thai options for delivery on his phone.

“So, what’d you want to talk about?” Baekhyun asked, plopping on his bed beside him and peeking at his screen.

“A lot,” Chanyeol said. He realized that his frustration had transformed itself into some sort of emo resignation. He glanced at Baekhyun and said, “I talked to Kyungsoo about the gay thing.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said, looking at him with all his attention now. “That’s good. Did it go okay?”

“I think so,” Chanyeol said. “But I learned that you’ve hooked up with guys and told him about it, but you never told me about it. Why?”

“Um, maybe because you always act weird whenever I say I’m bi in the first place?” Baekhyun said, not missing a beat.

So it was him. Minseok had been right, as he usually was. Chanyeol sighed and looked back at his phone, though nothing seemed appetizing at the moment.

“I’m sorry that I acted weird,” he said, scrolling through the menu of one of the places. “I didn’t know I made you feel so uncomfortable about it that you felt you couldn’t talk to me about it.” He was an awful friend. That was probably why he only had a few.

“It’s not…” Baekhyun began, but then paused for a moment, and then tried again, “Chanyeol, you’ve always been your own way when it comes to these things. Sometimes I wonder if you’re just asexual.”

“What?” Chanyeol said, looking at him stunned and not sure why he thought that.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Baekhyun said, “But see, that’s exactly what I mean. It’s not a big deal if you are or aren’t, but you always react to those things like it’s a problem.”

“I’m straight, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said, feeling defensive and knowing he sounded it.

“I get that,” Baekhyun nodded, “Mostly because you always say it.”

“So, because I don’t have girlfriends and go on dates,” Chanyeol said, starting to feel emotional about this for some reason, “no one thinks I’m actually straight. Great.”

“Who was the last girl you had a crush on?” Baekhyun asked him, and Chanyeol said what he always said in that situation.

“I don’t have time for crushes. Do you know how hard it is to be on this team and go to school and have a life outside of it?”

“All your teammates have girlfriends,” Baekhyun pointed out, and Chanyeol felt oddly betrayed.

“Thanks,” he said, feeling annoyed and tapping his phone more aggressively than necessary in order to switch to the other restaurant menu.

“I’m not…” Baekhyun sighed and rubbed Chanyeol’s shoulder as if that would calm him, but it just made him more annoyed. “I’m not judging you or saying you need one. All I’m saying is that the way you act about it and your answers make people think you’re not interested. I personally don’t care if you are or aren’t, and most other people probably don’t either, but if they wonder, that’s why.”

Baekhyun removed his hand from Chanyeol’s shoulder, and Chanyeol bit his lip and felt too annoyed to process anything that Baekhyun had said.

Chanyeol put his phone down and said, “I don’t think I’m in the mood for movie night anymore.”

“That’s fine,” Baekhyun assured him, and he pulled out his own phone from the pocket of his jeans. “I’ll text Kyungsoo and Jongdae to let them know.”

“No, I should do it,” Chanyeol said, picking his phone back up. “If it comes from you, then Kyungsoo will think this is about him.”

“He’s going to think it’s about him anyway,” Baekhyun pointed out, “But you’re right. It should come from you.” Baekhyun then looked him over, as Chanyeol made no move to actually do anything with the phone that was now in his hand. “Yeol, you’re stressing and thinking about this too much. As you do. I’ll let you get it out of your system tonight, but don’t make this a bigger deal than it is, okay?”

Chanyeol couldn’t make any promises, but he nodded anyway and let Baekhyun hug him goodbye even though he was too annoyed to reciprocate.

He took a few deep breaths before pulling up his texts and then bit his lip as he considered how best to give the news. He thought it safest to text Kyungsoo and Jongdae at the same time, so he created a group chat, and included Baekhyun so it was less weird.

_Hey, guys. Have to cancel movie night. I have a lot of homework to catch up on. Let’s reschedule for next week._

It certainly wasn’t a lie, he did have a lot of work to do, but he knew Kyungsoo would probably read the subtext anyway.

_Bummer. Next week it is!_

Jongdae replied first, and Chanyeol hoped that since they lived together, Kyungsoo wouldn’t bother sending one, but a moment later, Kyungsoo’s reply came in.

_Okay._

That was it. Okay. Chanyeol’s heart constricted a little, and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he could sense that Kyungsoo was disappointed with him. But whatever, Kyungsoo had disappointed Chanyeol too. Fair was fair.

Chanyeol turned his phone off altogether and tossed it onto his desk then curled up in his bed to try and make this all somehow feel less emotional. He didn’t know why he was the way he was. He didn’t know why he couldn’t be like everyone else and talk about girls all day and have a girlfriend. Maybe Baekhyun was right. Maybe he was asexual. And the idea alone made Chanyeol cry as if it meant that he was somehow broken.

But moments later, as he sniffled and tried to pull his mental state together, he reminded himself that Baekhyun was right. There was nothing wrong with Baekhyun being bisexual, or Kyungsoo being gay, so there was nothing wrong with being asexual. Except that Chanyeol really didn’t think he was. He had definitely been attracted to girls before, and he had fantasized about kissing and making out before.

So Chanyeol decided in that moment that once the tournament was over, he was going to focus on finally getting a girlfriend. He was a 20-year-old sophomore in college, and according to the world around him, it had been long overdue. With this resolve, he finally calmed down enough to grab his laptop from his desk and catch up on some of the work he had missed.


	12. Chapter 12

Kyungsoo generally tried to avoid the South Coast Plaza, not being a fan of malls in general, but Jongdae had insisted that he needed him, which is why he was walking from store to store with a very chatty best friend.

“So not only do I need to find Lisa a birthday present,” Jongdae said, “But Jennie called me to ask if I wanted help in organizing the party. Does she think I’m her boyfriend? We haven’t made anything official yet.”

“I think Jennie just assumes what she wants to be true,” Kyungsoo pointed out as they walked into the Burberry store.

“Good point,” Jongdae said, looking at some cute hats. “But now I feel pressured to make things official. I mean, I was leaning toward it, but Lisa keeps saying things that make me think she doesn’t want me to.”

“She wants you to,” Kyungsoo told him as he tried on a beret, “Girls are like that.”

“I really don’t understand girls,” Jongdae lamented, “I’m hoping I get it right this second time. Lisa’s a lot more chill than Wendy was, so it’s a lot easier with her.”

“That’s good,” Kyungsoo told him with a small smile. He wanted Jongdae to have a new relationship that was easy and made him happy. At least one of them should. Although Jongin seemed content with Jennie despite all the weirdness that came with dating her, so he supposed that once again, it was just him that got to stay alone.

His bottom lip jutted out into a pout, and he took off the beret and threw on a bucket hat instead, thinking it apropos at the moment that it covered half his face.

“But again, that’s only if she wants me to really be her boyfriend,” Jongdae continued on. “She says all the time that her career is first for her. And whenever Jennie goes on and on about her plans with Jongin, Lisa waves her off and says she doesn’t have time for all that and doesn’t know how Jennie does it.”

“That’s what she tells herself to not get her hopes up in case you don’t ask. Because you haven’t,” Kyungsoo explained to him. Why was he the one that had the good dating advice when he was the one that had no luck dating? Maybe it was that whole “outside looking in” thing that gave him the perspective.

“You’re probably right,” Jongdae said. “So then the question is, do I make things official with her before or after her birthday?”

“Probably before, so she can have a boyfriend during her birthday and at her birthday party. Girls find that kind of thing important,” Kyungsoo told him, putting the hats back and watching Jongdae compare two beanies.

“Lisa always looks cute in beanies, and she likes to wear them during her dance practices. Maybe I’ll get her one of these,” Jongdae said.

“Unless you don’t want to be in a relationship again yet,” Kyungsoo then said, since he didn’t have a response for what he said.

“I just don’t want to feel like I’m rushing into anything,” Jongdae admitted, looking at him instead. “It’s only been a few months since Wendy and I broke up, so rushing into this feels like I’m just rebounding.”

Kyungsoo nodded and pointed to the pink one, “She’ll look cute in that one.”

Jongdae smiled and put the brown one back, holding the pink beanie as he glanced around at a few more things.

“If you feel you need to take more time, then take it,” Kyungsoo told him as he glanced around with him. “Even if you’re just the guy she’s dating, that will still make her happy during her birthday.”

“Thanks for that,” Jongdae said with an appreciative smile, and then he decided that the beanie would be enough.

After they left the mall, they met up with Jongin for lunch at their favorite sushi place, and Kyungsoo felt like treating himself after the shitty way his week had ended, so he ordered a few rolls and soft-shell crab to start.

“Has Jennie talked to you about Lisa’s birthday party yet?” Jongdae asked Jongin while they waited for their food.

“Of course she has,” Jongin said with a chuckle. “I’m supposed to supply her with a list of people to invite from the studio.”

Jongdae groaned, which made Jongin switch from chuckling to laughing. Kyungsoo listened to them while drinking his water and checking his phone for… well nothing really. He casually pulled up a casting site to see if there were any open calls happening soon.

“Lisa already told Jennie that she didn’t want anything crazy,” Jongdae said. “She said a nice dinner with just her closest friends would be nice.”

“I’ll try and bring that up to her,” Jongin said, and then he paused and said, “I don’t think Lisa’s as close to you-know-who, so I can get Jennie to make sure he doesn’t come.”

“Wielding your boyfriend power to ban people from events,” Jongdae said in an “oooh” sort of tone. “I like it.”

Kyungsoo looked at them both and said, “You guys are idiots.”

He knew that Jongdae had filled Jongin in on everything after they had gone to bed on the canceled movie night, so he should have expected that Jongin would want to say something about it to him today since they were hanging out.

“Seriously though,” Jongin said, looking at him a little concerned. “How are you holding up?”

“It’s not that serious,” Kyungsoo said, shrugging. “He’s a jock. Obviously, he wasn’t going to want to hang out with me once he found out. It’s fine. His loss and all that.”

“The next time I see him,” Jongin said, holding his chopstick and waving it as if it was a threat, “I’m going to let him know he’s a homophobic asshole.”

“I don’t know if he’s homophobic,” Jongdae said. “An asshole, sure, but he’s friends with Baek.”

“He was in denial that Baek was bi,” Kyungsoo reminded him.

“Yeah,” Jongdae said, his lips tightening as he assessed whatever information was in his mind, “But I don’t know. Chanyeol really liked you. Like for a moment there, I thought he might be into you too. This whole thing is weird.”

“You think he’s in the closet?” Jongin asked him.

“Who cares?” Kyungsoo shrugged. “If he is, he can stay there. Can we talk about more important things now?”

“What are we doing for your first college spring break?” Jongin asked, fulfilling Kyungsoo’s wishes.

Jongdae laughed and said, “Bold of you to assume that I’m going to have a spring break when that week is prime planning time for the church’s Easter and spring events.”

“What’d your parents put you in charge of this year?” Kyungsoo asked, not envying Jongdae’s position when religious holidays came around.

“The Purity Group table,” Jongdae stated with an ironic smile and a thumbs up.

Kyungsoo chuckled, but Jongin just flat-out cracked up and asked, “Your parents are aware that you shouldn’t be anywhere near that booth, right?”

“They are not,” Jongdae said, now pointing his chopsticks in Jongin’s direction, “And you are not going to tell them any different. I will be manning that booth dressed in white and with my purity ring on full display.”

“So I take it you’re not inviting Lisa to this then?” Kyungsoo said, amused by this.

“No, I’m still inviting her,” Jongdae said with a laugh. “She needs to attend to understand my struggles in life.”

Jongin laughed with him and then looked at Kyungsoo and asked, “What about you? No plans?”

“As it happens to fall right after midterms,” Kyungsoo pointed out, “I’m sure I will be spending my spring break explaining to my parents why this semester has been a waste of my time and their money.”

“You’ve been attending classes though,” Jongdae said, “I’m proud of you for that.”

“Me too,” Jongin agreed with a nod. “Stick with it and you may even graduate and get Jennie’s father’s approval to date her.”

Kyungsoo grimaced, knowing that Jongin was still feeling uncertain about his first meeting with her parents. He was about to comment on it when their server came over with their appetizers, and all three of them dug in to satiate their lunch-time hunger, ceasing all conversation for a few moments as they savored their first bites.

“So when do you have to hang out with her parents again?” Kyungsoo asked after he had inhaled his first soft-shell crab.

“I keep avoiding it,” Jongin said, finishing up his edamame. “Her dad wants me to have lunch with him at the country club and play golf. Do I look like I play golf?”

“At the country club,” Jongdae snickered. “How cliché.”

“They invented cliché,” Jongin said, looking over it. “Her mom won’t stop bothering me about meeting with Jennie’s modeling agent. She also wants Jennie to post more pictures on her Instagram of us together. It’s madness.”

“This is why I don’t have an Instagram,” Jongdae said in disbelief. “I couldn’t even imagine my mom keeping tabs on what I’m posting.” He shook his head and shoveled more of his tempura into his mouth.

“Jennie’s mom pretty much runs her Instagram, which is amazing considering she has her own to focus on,” Jongin explained. “She wanted to follow me, and I couldn’t even tell her ‘no’ because mine is public, and she would’ve found it anyway. So now she’s sending me texts about how I don’t update it often enough.”

“Not to be a dick,” Kyungsoo said, having finished his second crab, “But is this all worth it?”

“I mean…” Jongin seemed to think for a moment and then he shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I need to see how much effect this will end up having on our relationship. As long as Jennie and I can keep doing our thing our way, I guess the rest won’t really matter.”

“I’ll pray for you,” Jongdae said, raising his glass of water to him, and Kyungsoo snorted.

Their sushi came out soon after and they all once again fell silent as they shuffled rolls into their mouths as if they hadn’t just eaten their appetizers.

“So what does Jennie have planned for you during her first college spring break?” Kyungsoo asked once he felt his stomach was pleased enough to slow down and eat normally.

Jongdae snickered at his question, and Jongin narrowed his eyes at both of them, but then smiled and answered.

“Her sorority planned some spring break trip to Cabo,” Jongin said, “And while I’m tempted to crash, I’m pretty booked that week.”

“Oh yeah,” Jongdae said, “Your first hip-hop music video. Are you going to be surrounded by girls in bikinis, or are you going to be the one in the bikini?”

“You’re a dumbass,” Jongin said, “It’s not that kind of video. It’s a straight-up dance hip-hop video, so I’m doing backup dancing, and I’m convinced they’re going to fire me the first day on set when they realize hip-hop dancing isn’t my specialty.”

“They had to have known that before they hired you,” Kyungsoo pointed out. “Didn’t you audition?”

“No,” Jongin said, looking surprised even as he said it, “They literally came into the studio. The rapper, his agent, his music producer, other people, and they watched all the dance classes then talked to the studio about using some of us.”

“They should have picked Lisa to be in it too,” Jongdae said, and Kyungsoo smiled at how indignant he seemed about it.

“They only picked guys,” Jongin said. “So I guess it’s just guy backup dancers.”

“I’m sure being in this video will help your new modeling career take off,” Kyungsoo teased, Jongdae let out a loud laugh.

Jongin groaned and told him to take it back out of the atmosphere.

They teased him some more about his future as a model and discussed how lame they all were for not having any real spring break plans as they finished up their lunch. Kyungsoo felt appreciative of the fact that the Jongas Brothers didn’t bother to bring up Chanyeol again.

When he got back home, he found his parents sitting on the couch beside each other in their family room, both typing away furiously on their respective laptops while the TV they weren’t watching provided background noise. It amazed him how _not_ like his parents Kyungsoo was, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he looked exactly like his mom, he would’ve believed he was adopted.

“Stop working,” Kyungsoo told them as he walked over to the coffee table to get the remote, “It’s Saturday. It’s spend-time-with-your-favorite-son day.”

“Is your brother here?” his mother said without missing a beat, and his father laughed.

Kyungsoo pouted at them and sat in the armchair that faced the TV at an angle.

“Fine. I’ll just sit here and pretend that I have parents that love me.”

“Oh, stop it,” his mother said, glancing at him with a smile as she continued to type. “And shouldn’t you be studying for your midterms?”

Kyungsoo switched the channels, not wanting to watch anything, but hoping something good was on that he could watch anyway.

“What are midterms?” he asked.

“You must be doing well so far,” his father then said. “We haven’t had our check returned yet.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, wishing his parents didn’t think they were comedians when it came to things like this.

“I’m surviving,” he said. “All my classes are boring this semester.”

One had managed to get interesting, but now it would probably just be awkward. Maybe he’d just drop that class anyway. It’s not like he was going to do well on that midterm.

“Make sure and take more of your acting classes next semester,” his mother said, “It’ll keep you engaged.”

“I told you to join a fraternity,” his father then told him. “It would make college more enjoyable for you and you would make good connections. USC is an industry school. You could become best friends with future filmmakers.”

“Dad,” Kyungsoo said, looking at the older man. “In a sea of glorified alphas that roam the hollowed row of fraternities, I can only imagine what kind of hazing rituals they would have waiting for someone like me.”

“What are you saying?” his mother asked as she looked confused at her screen. “Where do you get these dramatics from?”

“You,” his father said, and his mom raised her hand to pretend to hit him.

“The point is,” Kyungsoo said, wanting the attention back on him, “I’m not joining a fraternity.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t even try,” his father then said. “You need to try in the fall. Just try. You may end up liking it.”

“I promise you I would not like it.”

“You don’t even know,” his father said, looking right at him. “You only get one chance to experience this time of your life. You should do it right.”

Kyungsoo bit his lip, wishing his parents could understand his struggles, but they never could. They were alphas themselves: successful, intelligent, attractive, the epitome of what people should be. He wondered how he had gotten so screwed over in the family gene pool.

“Dad,” Kyungsoo then said, thoughtful and careful, “I’m small, I’m shy, I’m not a social person, I’m a total geek, and I’m gay. What part of that makes you think I should be in a fraternity? All they do is party and try and hook up with sororities.”

His dad sighed and looked at him for a moment, and his mother looked up as well, looking between the two.

“I understand your concerns,” he said, “But fraternities are brotherhoods. It’s not just partying and hooking up. It’s lifelong family and connections.”

“I have a brotherhood,” Kyungsoo pointed out. “Jongdae and Jongin and I are a brotherhood.”

“You are,” his father agreed, “And you’re a great brotherhood. But because you’re shy, and because you aren’t social, joining a fraternity would help you build a bigger brotherhood, and it would also help you come out of your shell more. Back in Korea, we didn’t have those types of things, but when I moved here to the States, I realized how far those organizations got my co-workers and peers. It hurts nothing to join one, and the long-lasting benefits will make it worth it.”

Kyungsoo said nothing because what he wanted to say wouldn’t go over well with either of his parents at the moment.

“Just think about it,” his mother said. “Maybe one of those alpha row people, or whatever you called them, will be your future husband.”

Kyungsoo started to groan, but then he raised his eyebrow in consideration. He wondered if there were any gay guys in the fraternities at school, and if there were, he bet they were probably hotter than Chanyeol. Suddenly the idea intrigued him.

“I’ll think about it,” he said, which brought a smile to both of his parents’ faces before they both focused back on their laptops.

Kyungsoo knew he was lucky in many ways, and for all his complaints about being the black sheep in a family of overachievers, he knew that his parents loved him and cared a lot about him. It was part of what had given him the courage to come out to his parents in the first place.

It had been during his senior year of high school after he had found himself in a relationship with his first and only boyfriend so far. He had waited until dinner to tell them, and as they sat around the table eating japchae and beef, Kyungsoo cleared his throat and announced that he was in a relationship.

His parents had both looked at him and blinked, then his mother had lit up and asked him if he had a girlfriend, and he had taken a deep breath and stated, “No. I have a boyfriend.”

There had been confusion, and Kyungsoo remembered how tightly he had held onto the napkin on his lap as he explained to them that he liked boys and he was now dating one that he really liked.

They had fallen silent, and he had worried that they’d kick him out or send him off to Korea to live with his overachiever brother who was perfect in every way and had moved back to the motherland to go to college.

But instead, his father had said, “Well, that was unexpected,” and returned to eating his food.

His mother had stayed still for a moment and then left the dining room quickly, which made Kyungsoo look down in defeat. He had known they wouldn’t like that he was gay, but he had thought that they would at the very least appreciate his honesty.

“I’ll go talk to her,” his father had said, putting down his chopsticks as he got up from the table.

Kyungsoo had pushed away his food and used the cleared space to put his arms on the table and lay his head on them, taking deep breaths and willing his heart to stop beating so fast and his stomach to stop tumbling. He then cried too because he loved his mom and was upset at himself for upsetting her.

When his parents had returned to the dining room, Kyungsoo had sat up straight and wiped his face of his tears. He had the intention of apologizing and leaving to his room, but instead, his mother hugged him, and Kyungsoo had felt very confused.

“I’m sorry I upset you,” he had said as he cried into her shoulder again.

“I’m just so scared for you,” she said, holding onto him tightly.

And as they all calmed down and finally spoke in the dining room about it, he had learned that his mother was just worried about what this would mean for him. She had said things like “the world is cruel” and “people won’t understand” but at the end of it all, she made sure he knew that she loved him and supported him no matter what. His father had made the same promise, and Kyungsoo had cried all over again, but that time in relief.

The fact that his parents loved him despite all his shortcomings did make him try to do better for them. It’s why he did force himself to go to class and why he would consider this fraternity thing, just as he had considered going to college in the first place.

***

The weekend passed too quickly, and even though it had been claimed that spring had begun, it was still too cold for his liking. As he walked to the building where his Applied Business Statistics class took place, he burrowed into his black hoodie, purposely not wearing his red one, and hoped that Chanyeol was too lame of a person to show up. Though the thought of not going to class was tempting, this particular one was their last review before midterms, and he needed all the help he could get.

He arrived early enough to be only the second person there, and he settled into his seat, pulling out his laptop to set up for an attempt at notetaking, and then pulling out his phone to text the Jong Bros.

_Kyungsoo: Dude-bro jock isn’t in class yet. Who wants to place bets on whether he’ll show?_

_Jongdae: He’ll show._

_Jongin: He’ll show._

_Kyungsoo: WTH? You guys are bad at placing bets._

_Jongdae: LOL. He probably thinks he didn’t do anything wrong and thinks things are cool._

_Jongin: What Dae said._

_Kyungsoo: I hope he doesn’t show to prove you idiots wrong._

_Jongdae: No, you hope he doesn’t show so you don’t have to feel awkward in class._

_Jongin: What Dae said._

_Kyungsoo: RIP me, he just walked in._

Kyungsoo hoped that Chanyeol hadn’t noticed him walk in as he looked at all the laughing emojis that Jongdae and Jongin sent instead.

He wondered if he could just keep looking at his phone and avoid looking in that general direction altogether, and then he wondered if he was being a punk about this. It was going to be obvious if he just sat there purposely not looking anywhere but down or straight ahead at the professor.

Kyungsoo had hoped that Chanyeol would choose to sit somewhere else as well, but the familiar height and movements out of the corner of his eye confirmed that Chanyeol was sitting in his usual desk next to his.

_Kyungsoo: Help! How do I not look over at him?_

_Jongin: Just look at him and say ‘hey, douchebag!’_

_Jongdae: asdfghjkl!_

Not surprisingly, the Jong Bros were of no help, and Kyungsoo sighed and put his phone down so he could pull up his previous notes on his laptop.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said, and Kyungsoo’s fingers paused their movement as he registered that he probably had said that to him.

Then Kyungsoo decided to keep typing as he said, “Hey,” back.

Silence followed and luckily the professor started class before anything more awkward could happen between them. Since it was a review session, Kyungsoo did a better job of paying attention than normal and managed to avoid glancing toward Chanyeol for the most part, but unfortunately, as his mind started to wander in boredom toward the end of class, he did glance over, only to find Chanyeol staring at his laptop screen, not paying attention at all.

Kyungsoo bit his lip, but since he didn’t know what that was about, he tried to focus again and took a few more helpful notes before the professor finished.

As Kyungsoo packed up, he noticed Chanyeol do the same in record time, and when Kyungsoo stood, Chanyeol had already been standing, looking at him and apparently waiting for him.

“Can we talk?” Chanyeol said.

Maybe Kyungsoo should have expected this after he had actually said “Hey” to him, but it caught him off guard, so he shrugged and walked past him to go outside.

He stood back in pretty much the same spot where they’d had their last “talk,” and he adjusted his bookbag strap on his shoulder as he looked up at Chanyeol, who looked particularly worried.

“Okay, you’re upset with me,” Chanyeol began, and Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean, I get it. You probably thought I was blowing you off after our last conversation, but I really did need to study that night.”

“Okay?” Kyungsoo said, not sure what point he was trying to make.

“I mean, I still want to hang out with you, and Dae and Baek,” Chanyeol tried, but Kyungsoo didn’t think that was true.

“If that were true, you would’ve texted me at any point after it happened to talk about things like we normally do,” Kyungsoo pointed out. “But you didn’t. You completely ghosted on me, so I assumed that you didn’t want to be friends anymore.”

“No, I still want to be friends…”

“Why?” Kyungsoo had to cut him off. He didn’t want to hear any more lies from him.

“Because we get along really well,” Chanyeol said, though he seemed confused as he said it, which Kyungsoo took to mean it was just another lie.

“No, we don’t,” Kyungsoo told him. “I’m a gay wannabe actor and you’re a homophobic jock. We have nothing in common.”

Chanyeol looked as if he had been slapped, and his mouth and eyes were so wide that Kyungsoo couldn’t help but mimic him.

“I’m not…” Chanyeol began, then he looked overcome with emotion, and he cleared his throat, “I’m not a homophobic jock. I don’t care that you’re gay. But you have called me a jock twice, and not in a nice way, so I think you’re the one that’s stereotyping me and bothered by everything.”

Kyungsoo had no idea how he came to that conclusion, but maybe it was self-preservation on his part. He let out a short breath and pursed his lips to the side as he tried to think through this, and then looked back at Chanyeol.

“So why didn’t you text me after the canceled movie night?”

Chanyeol looked at him for a moment, as if trying to find the right thing to say, and then finally said, “I had a lot on my mind.”

“I bet,” Kyungsoo smarted.

“No, I did,” Chanyeol said, crossing his arms. “I had talked to Baek that night and… I don’t know. I think I’m confused about a lot of things. I just wanted some time alone to think.”

“What are you confused about?” Kyungsoo asked him, thinking that this was the most believable thing he had said.

“Things,” Chanyeol said, and he shook his head. “It’s stuff I’ll figure out. I hope.”

“I hope so too,” Kyungsoo said, “For your sake.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, and he uncrossed his arms and scratched the back of his head instead.

Kyungsoo wished he didn’t find it cute at the moment, and he also wished that Chanyeol’s shaggy hair that hadn’t cooperated with him that morning or hadn’t been fully brushed to begin with, wasn’t so cute either. After everything that had happened, still finding Chanyeol Park cute was annoying, and Kyungsoo wondered why his own brain liked to make him suffer.

“So, should I schedule another movie night?” Chanyeol asked him.

“Midterms,” Kyungsoo reminded him.

“Oh, right,” Chanyeol nodded, dropping his hand. “Maybe during spring break? Do you have plans?”

“I’ll probably be dead,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol looked at him unsure. “I’m anticipating my parents killing me after I fail my midterms.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, and he gave a smile, which made Kyungsoo wish he had never told him he was gay so they could go back to being friends like before. “I think you’ll be fine. I didn’t have any plans for spring break so if you want to hang out or whatever…”

He seemed to be genuine, but Kyungsoo still wasn’t sure what to think about all this, so he diplomatically said, “We’ll see what happens.”

Chanyeol didn’t seem to have much else to say, so he said, “Okay,” and the two boys headed their separate ways.

But it was on Kyungsoo’s mind the rest of the day, and he needed to talk to someone about it. Specifically, someone who may have understood what he was going through. He texted Baekhyun to see if they could meet up and was relieved when Baekhyun texted him back and said they should go grab coffee.

They met up at the Coffee Bean in Tudor and sat at a table with their drinks in hand, Kyungsoo always enjoying a warm mocha latte when the weather was a bit cool. Baekhyun didn’t seem to care about the weather and had ordered an iced caramel macchiato.

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how to bring up Chanyeol, so he asked Baekhyun about his day and how he felt about midterms.

“My classes aren’t too hard this semester, so I should be okay,” Baekhyun said. “Unlike you, I don’t plan on staying the whole four years, so I’m taking all my music classes now and ignoring the other mandatory ones I don’t care about.”

“Do you really think your mom is going to be okay with you dropping out?” Kyungsoo asked him with a smile.

“She’ll have to be okay with it,” Baekhyun said, shrugging with his own smile.

“Meanwhile, my parents want me to join a frat,” Kyungsoo said with a snort.

“Wow,” Baekhyun said, his eyes bright with amusement, “Are you going to?”

“At first, no. But then I started wondering if there were any gay guys in frats, and if so, maybe I should meet them.”

Baekhyun chuckled and nodded as he looked at Kyungsoo a moment, almost as if he was endeared. Baekhyun often looked at him like that, but Kyungsoo was never sure why.

“I guess next fall we can go to some parties during Rush and check it out,” Baekhyun said. “They say you have a better chance of getting a bid if you go with a buddy.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo asked him, surprised he knew this, “I don’t know anything about joining a frat.”

“It’s a process,” Baekhyun told him. “My roommate did it, which is part of why I never see him. Frats keep you busy.”

Kyungsoo nodded, being fearful of that very fact. “I tried to explain to my parents that I have my own ‘frat,’ but my dad is stuck on needing the connections to be successful or something. Like I’m going to get some corporate job like he has.”

Baekhyun shrugged and tapped his fingers against his cup. “I mean, you could always tell him that you already have great connections. Thanks to Jongin, you’re now friends with Jennie, Jisoo, Chanyeol…”

“Chanyeol and I aren’t friends,” Kyungsoo stated quickly, not wanting to miss the chance to discuss him. “Not after all that went down on movie night. Or before movie night…”

Baekhyun sighed and gave a nod, sucking in his lips in thought for a moment and then taking a sip of his drink. “That’s too bad,” he finally said.

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow at him, and asked, “Is it?”

“I mean,” Baekhyun gave a one-armed shrug and seemed to struggle to find the right words. “Chanyeol’s a really good guy.”

“Really? Because he seems a bit homophobic to me,” Kyungsoo went ahead and pointed out.

“He’s not,” Baekhyun said. “It’s not that at all. I mean, if he comes off that way, it’s because he’s…confused.”

“Yeah, he mentioned that,” Kyungsoo also mentioned. “But he wouldn’t tell me about what.”

“It’s because he doesn’t know,” Baekhyun said, leaning forward and sloshing his drink around a little. “Jisoo and I have had a theory about Chanyeol for a long time, but we’ve never been able to prove it.”

Kyungsoo was intrigued, and he too found himself leaning in a bit more to listen.

“What kind of theory?”

Baekhyun seemed to need to debate in his mind whether or not he wanted to tell him, and Kyungsoo waited him out, watching as other students ordered their coffees and then settled into tables with their books and laptops. They were obviously studying for midterms, unlike Kyungsoo who didn’t want to open a single book anytime soon.

“Chanyeol’s never dated anyone,” Baekhyun then said. Kyungsoo nodded, having remembered that fact about him from their first movie night. “And for a while, we wondered if he was asexual.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, not having expected that. But it could make sense, kinda.

“But, the more we talked about it, the more we don’t think it’s that.”

Kyungsoo’s brows furrowed, and he asked, “So then what is it?’

“Chanyeol does this thing. He’s a little bit obsessive about the things he likes. Like music and basketball. You see how he plays, how much he trains, how passionate he gets about it. He gets like that with people too. Particularly people he really likes.”

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow again, now very curious about where this was going. He listened carefully as Baekhyun continued.

“Particularly… boys he really likes,” Baekhyun amended, and Kyungsoo may have looked a little surprised. “He doesn’t make friends easily, but every now and then, he meets a boy that he instantly likes and wants to be friends with. And he doesn’t shut up about them. He’ll talk about what they said, what they did, and you can just tell how excited he is about seeing them again.”

“Is that how he was with you?” Kyungsoo went ahead and asked. “When you guys first started being friends?”

“Yeah, but,” Baekhyun began, narrowing his eyes as if he had to sort it out in his own mind. “It’s different. Maybe because we were so young when we met, it wasn’t the same sort of thing. The energy is different. Like in the way you’re happy to see Jongdae versus the way you’re happy to see Jongin.”

Kyungsoo knew he was staring too intently now, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

“So, you’re saying Chanyeol likes boys,” Kyungsoo stated.

“I think Chanyeol doesn’t realize that he gets crushes on boys,” Baekhyun clarified, “Because I don’t think Chanyeol realizes he’s attracted to boys. And not in a way where he’s repressing himself and being closeted. I mean in a way where he genuinely doesn’t realize it. He thinks he’s straight, but he’s not processing that he really might not be. It’s not even something he’d consider.”

“But that’s weird,” Kyungsoo said, thinking about how early on in life he absolutely knew he was gay. “How would he not know? That’s something you just know about yourself.”

“I’m not sure,” Baekhyun stated. “I don’t get it, and I’m fine with Chanyeol being the way he is, but I just thought you should know that he’s not homophobic. He’s just confused.”

“No kidding,” Kyungsoo smarted, drinking more of his coffee as he thought about this, and then he sighed and said, “We talked today after class, and he said he still wanted to be friends.”

“And what’d you tell him?”

“That we’d see what happens,” Kyungsoo said, pursing his lips to the side.

Baekhyun smiled and looked at him, then said, “I think you guys are still friends then. You liked hanging out with him too.”

“I guess,” Kyungsoo shrugged, and Baekhyun laughed at him in that loud and obnoxious way that rivaled Jongdae’s loud and obnoxious laugh.

“I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re crushing on someone too,” Baekhyun pointed out, and Kyungsoo may have felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment. “But either way, it’s probably good that you guys give each other a little space and figure out if you really want to be friends.”

“Yeah, probably,” Kyungsoo agreed, trying to not overthink this.

After coffee, they headed their separate ways and Kyungsoo wondered why fate always did this to him. The first love of his life, Yixing, was also someone who had a hard time with his emotions and feelings toward him. It was as if Kyungsoo was only attracted to guys who were either straight or refused to acknowledge that they weren’t.

Why couldn’t he have a crush for once on someone who knew they were gay and had no issues just being with him and loving him?


	13. Chapter 13

Jongin rarely had a reason to go to his parents’ office building, which is why whenever either of his parents’ executive assistant called him, he knew he was being summoned for a meeting with his managers regarding his dance career.

He politely said hello to the receptionist at the front desk, who simply smiled at him and welcomed him. Unlike other visitors, he didn’t have to sign in or be escorted to whoever he was meeting, which sometimes made him feel like he worked there. It was nice at times because even though he didn’t want to follow in his parents’ footsteps, he did still want to feel like he was part of everything they had built.

His parents had separate offices, so he stopped by his mom’s office first to say “hi” to her. She was in the middle of a call, so she waved at him with a smile and motioned for him to head to his father’s. He waved back with a grin and moved on to the office next door, where his father and Jonghee were sitting on the couch in his office and discussing something.

“Knock knock,” Jongin said as he walked in, even though the door had been open anyway.

“Perfect timing,” his father said. “We ordered lunch, and it should be here soon.”

“What are we eating?” Jongin asked as he sat on the comfortable guest chair that faced the couch.

“We ordered some salads from Mendocino Farms,” his sister said. “I got you the Cobb one that you like.”

“Thanks,” he told her, but then looked at her with an unsure smile. “Is this going to be a long meeting?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “I guess that depends on what you have to tell us about this modeling career of yours.”

Jongin groaned. He should have seen this coming. He had hoped that Jennie’s mom had dropped it when he didn’t reply to her texts about it, but he should have known the woman would have found out directly how to contact his managers.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this?” his father asked him, definitely amused as he looked at him.

“I was hoping it went away,” Jongin admitted, rubbing his hands back and forth on his legs. “Jennie’s mom is… I mean, I told her that I wasn’t interested, but she’s really persistent.”

“No kidding,” Jonghee said, looking almost as if she was still traumatized from dealing with her, “However, she’s not wrong in that it would give you more exposure.”

Jongin raised his eyebrow and looked between his sister and his father.

“Wait, you agree with her?” he asked to make sure.

“It’s promotion,” Jonghee explained, “It makes you more visible. You’re a dancer in LA competing against other great dancers, and while we all know you’re better than a lot of them, better doesn’t always mean you get the job.”

Jongin knew that all too well. He had friends at the studio that were way better dancers than him, and they still struggled to find work. He knew that training and talent were a small percentage of what made a dancer successful in LA. Connections, luck, and popularity were much more important.

“But I’m not a model,” Jongin pointed out.

“How hard can it be?” his father shrugged, and Jongin snorted.

“I set up the appointment with this woman, Kara Lee,” his sister said. “We’re going to meet with her and find out more.”

“We, as in, you two?” Jongin hoped.

“We, as in, you and I,” Jonghee said.

Jongin sighed then looked at his dad, pleading with his eyes to say something to help him out.

“You’re good looking,” his father said, rather unhelpfully, “There’s no reason you shouldn’t be a model.”

“You have more of a model look than your girlfriend does,” Jonghee said, and Jongin gave her a slight glare. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s true. She’s cute, but she’s not a model. You, however, know how to perform in front of a camera. So, if this Kara Lee woman can build a decent modeling career for Jennie, then she sure as hell can build a great one for you.”

“Jennie works hard and also knows how to work a camera,” Jongin said.

His sister put her hand up to calm him and stated, “The point is, I put the meeting on your calendar. Let’s just see what it’s all about and if we can use it to your benefit.”

“Okay, anything else?” Jongin asked, hoping his salad arrived so he could go hang out with his mom in her office and eat.

But there was a lot more, and Jongin sat there as his sister and father went over his upcoming auditions, his upcoming work, the contract for the latest project he had booked, and ideas to keep his social media presence high, which just gave him flashbacks to speaking with Jennie’s mom. By the time the food arrived, Jongin couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Once in the safety of his mother’s office, he put her salad on her desk for her and sat on her couch, trying to de-stress from the almost hour-long conversation about him that had taken place.

“Why do you look so stressed?” his mother asked as she opened her plastic container.

“Dad and Jonghee always stress me out,” Jongin half-joked, shoving a big forkful of salad into his mouth now that he could relax and eat.

“I know you don’t like dealing with the business side of your career,” she told him. “But it’s for your own good.”

“I know,” Jongin sighed. “I just sometimes miss dancing for the sake of dancing.”

“I understand that,” his mother said. She mixed her salad around and took a bite before looking at him again. “How are things going with you and Jennie?”

“They’re good,” he said with a smile, unsure of why his mom was asking but knowing it couldn’t be for any good reasons.

“That’s nice,” she said, taking another bite of her salad. Then after a moment, she added, “It’s been a couple of weeks or so since you’ve met her parents.”

Jongin paused eating, having an idea of where this might be going now. He hoped he was wrong.

“Mhmm,” he said, reaching over to grab his bottle of water to take a drink.

“Were you not thinking of letting us meet her?” she asked, and Jongin kept drinking his water to avoid answering. “I mean, if her parents know you, I think it’s only right that we know her.”

Jongin decided to play the culture card, so he chuckled and said, “Whatever happened to that old Korean custom of not introducing girlfriends to parents until it was time to talk about marriage?” He certainly wished his parents were old-fashioned at the moment.

“Old customs are why we left Korea in the first place,” his mother said with a snort. “We knew Krystal so well. It just seems right that we should know Jennie too. Besides, her parents didn’t seem to care about old customs.”

“Her parents only care about dictating her life and making sure everything in it is perfect and up to their standards, including her boyfriend,” Jongin said, almost getting annoyed again.

His mother watched him for a moment as she ate before asking, “Why are you still with her then? She seems like a hassle.”

Jongin sighed, wishing people would just understand that Jennie wasn’t who people perceived her to be.

“She’s not a hassle,” he explained. “Her parents are a hassle, her circumstances are a hassle, what she has to deal with is a hassle, but Jennie herself is nice and one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met.”

His mother seemed to consider this.

“I’m actually always amazed by how she handles things,” he continued on, even though he hadn’t been prompted. “A lot of the pressure she’s under… I don’t think other people could handle it as well as she could. She’s been bullied her whole life by people who have been jealous of her, but she’s still nice to people and gives everyone a chance. I just really like her spirit.”

He looked at his mom with a smile, and she smiled back at him, accepting the explanation for now.

“Well, she sounds like someone I would love to meet then,” she said, and Jongin could tell from her tone that she wasn’t convinced and needed to investigate this for herself. “Invite her for dinner this weekend.”

Jongin sighed and nodded, softly saying he would. He knew that Jennie would be excited since she had been wanting to meet them. He also knew that it was because she wanted a chance to make the right impression and win them over, needing validation wherever she could get it.

He’d give her the chance, and he’d give his family the chance to like her too. He was sure it would all go well. Or at least okay enough.

After lunch, he headed back north up into LA and to the studio for the hip-hop MV rehearsal. The routine itself wasn’t too complicated, but making the hip-hop moves look authentic required a little work. During some downtime, he ran through the routine by himself, trying to figure out how to make some of the shoulder movements and arm-work look smoother with the beat.

The choreographer, who had been hired for this video and who also happened to be teaching a masterclass at the studio for the month, watched him go through the routine, and Jongin knew he was probably either second-guessing him being a part of this video or wondering how he was going to fix everything that Jongin was doing wrong.

When Jongin paused to drink some water, the choreographer came over to him, and Jongin tried to stay calm, knowing that criticism was meant to improve.

“I can’t get over how fast you are,” the choreographer said, and Jongin blinked, not having expected that statement.

“Oh, is it too fast?” he asked.

“No,” the choreographer said, “I wish the other guys could do it as fast as you. Or make it seem as fast as you do. I’m going to bump you up to the front of the formation. It’s too impressive to not be highlighted.”

“Oh,” Jongin said, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Okay.”

The choreographer then left him, and Jongin felt a little confused, but ultimately excited that he had somehow impressed him.

His good mood and energy seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day since, once rehearsals were done, they had to give up the studio to a scheduled contemporary class that Jongin wanted to join to relax and de-stress from the choreography he had been attempting to perfect.

Lisa was in the class as well and she stood beside him to stretch and talk before the class started.

“So, my birthday,” Lisa said to him, and Jongin chuckled, knowing where this was going to go.

“l can’t control this,” Jongin let her know as he tried to remove a bit more sweat off his face with his towel.

“Yes, you can,” Lisa said, stretching her arms over her head. “I want a simple dinner with my closest friends. She keeps talking about renting out an entire restaurant, hiring a DJ, and making sure part of it is set up as a dance floor so I can dance. Make it stop.”

Jongin cracked up, and Lisa smacked his arm.

Class started, which saved Jongin from having to make false promises to Lisa. As he stood in his spot, he noticed a shock of bright blue hair in the mirror and tried to focus on who was sporting it. It was common for dancers to try out all kinds of hair colors, many forced to depending on the look required for whatever job they had booked, but the blue was so bright that it caught his full attention.

He didn’t recognize the guy, who was young and had features that looked like they had been drawn perfectly by an expert anime illustrator. The blue hair made that fact even more so, and if he wasn’t physically looking at him through the mirror, he would think he was looking at an anime character cardboard standup that someone had brought to class.

They began the routine, and Jongin kept glancing at the blue-haired boy, taking in how skilled he was. Usually, if Jongin saw new faces in the studio, it was because they were amateur dancers taking a chance on trying out their skills in classes with the best dancers in LA. But this guy seemed far more advanced than that, as if he had been part of the studio just as long as Jongin had.

But what impressed Jongin the most was his fluidity. He danced as if his body held no bones, and he was light on his feet, making every move seem delicate and effortless. Jongin was mesmerized. He loved watching people dance almost as much as he loved dancing, and it was rare for new talent that truly blew him away to come into the studio.

After class was done, Jongin drank from his water bottle and nudged toward the blue-haired guy to Lisa. “Who is that?” he asked her.

“I don’t know, but he’s really good,” she said, obviously having been distracted by him during class as well.

Jongin watched him as he drank some water and talked with another person in class, casually as if they were introducing themselves to each other. Jongin was too shy to introduce himself as well, so he stopped staring at the guy and checked his phone to see if he had any missed messages in the time class had taken place.

“So, back to my birthday,” Lisa said to him, and Jongin laughed, mostly because he had just read a text from Jennie saying she had found the perfect restaurant for Lisa’s birthday.

“You only turn 19 once,” Jongin told her, facing her. “This is the start of your last year as a teenager. Why not let it be a big deal?”

“I don’t like big deals,” Lisa whined, and Jongin wanted to laugh, but instead he decided to ask about her ideal guest list.

“In a perfect world, where Jennie wasn’t the one planning your birthday party, who would be invited to your birthday dinner with only close friends?”

“Jennie, you, Jisoo, Rosé, Jongdae,” she stated, and he waited a beat for her to add more, but when she didn’t, he looked thoughtful.

“That’s a really small list,” he said. “What did Kyungsoo ever do to you?”

“Nothing, he’s just not a close friend yet.”

“Is Chanyeol also not a close friend?”

“He’s Jisoo’s friend,” Lisa said. “I just want it to be the people I feel most comfortable around.”

Jongin could respect that, so he gave a soft sigh and scratched the back of his head, thinking this through.

“Okay, I’ll try and talk to her,” Jongin told her.

Lisa gave him a big hug and then pulled away and said “ew” when she realized how sweaty he was. He laughed and told her that’s what she gets, and she shoved his arm playfully, then smiled and thanked him again.


	14. Chapter 14

Kyungsoo spent the majority of his spring break hanging out at his parents’ house, playing video games, and watching movies. Jongin had been too busy working, and Jongdae really had been monopolized by his family in preparation for their Easter and spring activities. Baekhyun had been his backup plan, but his mom had planned a last-minute getaway, taking him and his little sister with her for a relaxation trip out in the desert.

So Kyungsoo spent his first college spring break doing nothing, which was apropos for his incredibly lame life. He did find himself checking Chanyeol’s Instagram from time to time, just to see what he had decided to do for the week, but whatever it was he was doing, he didn’t seem to share it with the rest of the world.

Just when Kyungsoo had given up all hope of doing something with his life that week, he got an email from one of the casting places he had signed up for.

_Casting Asian males (ages 18-25) for an Indie feature._

He looked at the location of the casting call and time and realized it would be on Monday, their first day back to class, during his morning classes no less. The decision between the audition and classes was a no brainer. He jotted down the information and went through the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out the folder where he kept his headshot and poor excuse of a resume.

The only thing he had listed on there were the theater productions in high school he had been a part of, and while he had some pretty big parts to brag about, it didn’t change the fact that he had nothing outside of it. So, he had tried to fill it up with his talents: he had vocal training, piano training, dance training, and was semi-fluent in Korean. He also attempted to highlight certain points, like how he beat out the other boys auditioning in his school to play the lead George Gibbs in _Our Town_ in his junior year, and how he had won an award at school for his portrayal of The Mad Hatter in _Alice in Wonderland_ his senior year.

His headshot though was another story altogether. He had gotten his headshots done right after he graduated high school, and as he looked at it now, he realized he needed to get new ones done. He looked so young in it that he realized it was probably part of the reason he wasn’t getting any calls for auditions. Now that he was 19, and about to finish his freshman year of college, he needed something that showed him looking a bit more mature.

When Monday morning arrived, Kyungsoo headed to the casting call location bright and early, and as he looked for parking, he found that the line for the call was already getting long. He lucked out on street parking thanks to someone leaving their spot. Once he was parked, he checked his hair in his rearview mirror, then grabbed his headshot and hurried to the line of Asian men before it got even longer.

Based on the summary he had read in the email, this casting call was for an indie coming-of-age feature film about a young boy working for one of the biggest Chinese gangs in LA. He wondered if they were looking for the lead or if they just wanted to cast all the people who would be in the gang. He smiled at the idea that their Chinese gang would probably be made up of Korean actors based on the turnout in the line.

“They’re going to pick you,” a voice said, and Kyungsoo looked over to see that some guy was now standing beside him, looking him over.

Kyungsoo looked down to see that he had a headshot in his hand as well, and then he looked back up at the guy and said, “Sorry?”

“You look like you can pull off a gang member,” he said, looking him over again. “I don’t think I’ve got a shot at this one, but it’s always good practice to audition for real jobs.”

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if he should take that as an insult or not, and he took in the guy’s appearance, thinking he might have had a point. This guy had a slightly awkward aura about him, which was only noticeable because he was so good looking that there was no reason for him to be awkward in the first place. His features were soft, his cheeks were high, and his black hair was shiny and looked good on him even though it was parted in the middle.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said, not sure what else to say to this random awkward and handsome guy.

“You look really young,” the guy then said, and Kyungsoo started wondering if he was just nervous and needed to talk to get rid of some of that nervous energy. “How old are you?”

“19,” Kyungsoo answered, “How old are you?”

“19?” he said, looking surprised, “I thought you were like 16. I’m 21, soon to be 22. What’s your name, by the way? I’m Suho.” He extended his hand for a shake.

“Kyungsoo,” he replied, shaking his hand.

“Wait, really?” Suho said, looking shocked. “You’re using your real name?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes narrowed because this guy was super confusing to him, and then he nodded slowly and said, “Yes?”

“Dude, no one’s going to call you back if they can’t pronounce your name,” he told him. “You gotta come up with a stage name.”

“Is Suho your stage name?” Kyungsoo asked, looking at him as if he was on something. It certainly didn’t sound like a stage name.

“Yeah, my real name is Junmyeon,” he stated. “So I made it easier for casting directors.”

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if he should tell him that he didn’t make it easier just because he had picked something with fewer letters, but then he figured someone probably should.

“I don’t think that’s how stage names work,” Kyungsoo pointed out. “You should have changed it to something like John.”

“You’ve never looked up to see how many John Kims there are on IMDB have you?” Suho, or Junmyeon, said with a chuckle. “David Kim, Steven Kim, Joseph Kim, Joshua Kim, Daniel Kim, all taken. My dad suggested I go with ‘Suho’ since it means leader in Korean, and he always thought I’d make a good leader. I was president of my class in high school, so it wasn’t a stretch.”

This guy seemed so incredibly full of himself that Kyungsoo couldn’t help but be amused, and he let him keep talking since it helped pass the time in the line that didn’t seem to want to move.

“What’s your last name?” Junmyeon then asked him. Kyungsoo decided that he refused to consider him by the name Suho because it sounded too funny to him.

“Doh,” Kyungsoo told him.

“Hm,” Junmyeon said, looking off to the side as he appeared to think, and then he looked back at him and said, “Kenneth. Kenneth Doh sounds pretty good.”

“No,” Kyungsoo said.

“Kevin Doh,” Junmyeon tried.

“I’m not using a stage name,” Kyungsoo let him know so he’d stop doing this. “I’m going to take my chances with my real name.”

Junmyeon shrugged and seem to pity him a bit as he shook his head, “It’s your acting career, man. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I appreciate the advice,” Kyungsoo told him, and he took a few steps forward because that was all the line had moved in that time.

“So, you been in anything?” Junmyeon asked him, taking the three steps forward with him.

“Not yet,” Kyungsoo said.

“Nothing?” Junmyeon asked, looking stunned. He really was dramatic. “You’re 19. Not even a student film? A commercial? Anything?”

“Not yet,” Kyungsoo said again, and he blinked at him and said, “I take it you’ve been in something.”

“Yeah,” Junmyeon said, moving his hand up to run his hand through his hair and then stopping himself before he got there as if realizing he shouldn’t mess up his hair. “Mostly extra work in some feature films, but I did get to play a hacker on Hawaii Five-O. That was fun.”

Kyungsoo frowned at this, and asked him again, “How old did you say you were? 21?”

“Yep, booked my first job at 14,” Junmyeon bragged, and Kyungsoo’s stomach dropped a little.

His parents had never listened to him when he asked them if he could go to auditions or try out for things. They always told him that when he became an adult and graduated high school, he could follow his dream however he wished, but now he realized that it had put him way behind the curve.

“That’s… nice,” Kyungsoo said for a lack of anything else to say.

And he repeated this mantra throughout the rest of their conversation as Junmyeon unveiled more facts about himself and advice that Kyungsoo hadn’t cared to hear. Like how he balanced college and acting, and how he was excited to be done with school forever after he graduated this spring. He mentioned how he was from Seattle but had decided to come to LA for college to be closer to the industry and “get started seriously on his career.” He was a student at Cal Arts and was about to graduate with a BFA in acting from the school that was known as the “Juilliard of the West.”

The more that he talked about himself, the more Kyungsoo felt like he should get out of line and go home. But maybe that was Junmyeon’s strategy. At some point, Kyungsoo caught the guy in front of him looking behind him at Junmyeon and then rolling his eyes as he looked forward again. Kyungsoo felt the same way. It would be his luck that this guy picked him out of the hundreds of people in line to latch onto and make miserable the entire time.

After hours of dealing with this, they were finally close enough to be given copies of the scene they’d be using for the audition. Kyungsoo zoned in on it, quickly reading through the lines to get a feel for the character, and then doing his best to memorize what he could before it was finally his, and unfortunately, Junmyeon’s, turn to go in since they were bringing people in five at a time.

Inside the room, there was a long table with six people sitting behind it, speaking with each other and going through the stacks of headshots in front of them.

Kyungsoo felt even more disheartened by this because even though he had been in a long line with a lot of people, it hadn’t really hit him until this moment just how many people that actually was. He bit his lip as he watched his headshot get passed down the table, along with those of the other four guys who stood with him.

Because it was a movie about gangs, he had dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and had worn his red hoodie, just in case Chanyeol had been right and it did bring good luck. He noticed that the other four guys were also dressed in jeans and T-shirts, having had similar thoughts. One guy had even had a bandana hanging out from the back of his jeans pocket, and Kyungsoo had to give him props for the extra touch.

One by one, they interviewed each person, and Kyungsoo almost fell asleep listening to Junmyeon talk about himself again. But he made sure to be alert once they got to him, and he could almost hear Junmyeon gloating beside him when they stumbled over his name.

“Kyungsoo,” Kyungsoo corrected them, as politely as he could.

“Kyungsoo,” the woman reading his resume repeated. “Doh?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“You’re 19?”

“Yes,” he said again.

He noticed two of the people at the table lean into each other at this, discussing something, and he tried to not let it unnerve him or distract him.

“You attend USC?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

He watched her look over his resume, and he bit his lip again, knowing there wasn’t much on there that she could ask about. Sure enough, she thanked him and moved on to the next guy. Kyungsoo didn’t know how to feel about how they had spoken with Junmyeon forever and with him for maybe thirty seconds, but he reminded himself that he was here for a reason.

Acting was his passion. It was his calling. It was what he loved to do, and it was made him feel the most like himself. In high school, he was known as one of the best actors in his school’s theater program, but he knew it was vastly different out in the real world and having to compete against all the best actors of their respective schools. He then wondered if this was how Jongin had felt when he had started out in his dancing career.

After they had finished interviewing each of them, they told the first person to go ahead with the audition. Kyungsoo was grateful to be the fourth person to go because it gave him a bit more time with the material while the others auditioned.

The scene was simple enough, a young gang member and an older gang member discuss breaking into a home to rob it. The first guy to audition did a good job with it, and Kyungsoo paid attention to the reactions of those sitting behind the table. They nodded at him and thanked him, then motioned for the next guy to go ahead. The second guy did slightly better than the first, and Kyungsoo noticed that the people at the table nodded again after his performance.

When it was Junmyeon’s turn, Kyungsoo paid close attention, interested to see what had to be amazing acting considering he was already experienced and had been accepted to the selective Cal Arts acting program.

Junmyeon took a moment after the slate to close his eyes and compose himself, and then after a couple of beats, he began acting out the part of the younger gang member, making interesting choices with his actions and delivery. There was no doubt he was good and skilled, and Kyungsoo felt that maybe he could’ve used a little more training before showing up today.

“Thank you,” the woman at the center of the table said to him, and then she leaned into the guy beside her and they had a slight conversation before Kyungsoo was told to go next.

Kyungsoo said his name after the slate, and went right into the scene, at that moment believing he was this young gangster who wanted to prove himself to his older fellow gang member. It was so easy to get lost in the role, and as he acted out his lines with the assistant that stood beside him to read the lines of the older gang member, Kyungsoo took complete control of the scene, even shoving the guy’s arm at one point to tell him to get out of his way so he could open the window to climb inside. The assistant startled, and then regained his spot in the script and delivered the next line, stumbling a little over it. But it didn’t throw Kyungsoo off. In his imagination, he had a house to rob, and that window wasn’t going to open itself.

When he finished, he looked at the table to see them all staring at him in a way they hadn’t stared at the other actors.

“Wow,” the woman in the center said. “Just wow.”

“That was,” the man beside her said, “arguably the best audition we’ve seen all day.”

He politely thanked them and stepped back to join the other three that had already auditioned, the first two looking him over, and Junmyeon looking at him like a surprised rabbit.

The guy that went after him stumbled a bit with his lines and asked for a re-do, which they were nice enough to give him, but it didn’t help him much in the long run, and he was thanked as the other three had been.

“You should hear in the next few days from us if you get a callback, otherwise you won’t receive a call,” the lead woman said to them. “Thank you all for coming, you can sign out and exit to your right.”

They thanked them again, and Kyungsoo thanked the assistant that showed them the way out. After he signed out, he took his keys out of the pocket of his jeans and was about to cross the street toward where he had parked when he felt someone grab his arm.

“Wait,” Junmyeon said, looking at him, his eyes still big. “We need to exchange numbers.”

“We really don’t,” Kyungsoo said.

“No, we do,” Junmyeon said. “Are you a Capricorn?”

“What?” Kyungsoo said, just as blindsided by this question as he was by Junmyeon himself.

“Your sign. Are you a Capricorn?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I knew it,” Junmyeon said, looking quite proud of himself as he gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Our signs aren’t the most compatible, but I still get the sense that fate brought us together today. I’m a Gemini, by the way.”

“I didn’t ask,” Kyungsoo pointed out, and then started walking again.

“Okay, well, I’ll see you at the next audition,” Junmyeon said, waving to him, but Kyungsoo didn’t wave back, too unsure of what angle his line buddy was playing at.

It wasn’t until he was driving back to campus that it finally dawned on him that he had auditioned and had done well enough to get a reaction from the casting people. He really hoped he got a callback, and he really hoped this was his big break so that he could quit the whole college thing and start doing what he loved full-time instead.

When he parked at his apartment, he took a moment to look down at himself, and then he smiled. Chanyeol had been right about his hoodie after all. He then looked at the keys he had dropped into his center console, and he felt a little pang in his chest as the Bigfoot keychain stared back at him. He couldn’t help it. He was so excited about how his audition went, and for some reason, he wanted to tell Chanyeol about it.

But then he grabbed his keys and got out of the car, mentally telling himself to get over it, and then hurrying to his apartment so he could tell Jongdae instead.


	15. Chapter 15

It was raining, but Chanyeol didn’t mind it as he jogged through his neighborhood, trying to make sure he was physically and mentally prepared for the first game of the playoffs. He and the team would be flying up to San Jose tomorrow to compete against Kansas State, and Chanyeol knew it was going to be one of the toughest games he’s ever played.

The importance of the game helped him keep his focus on training and preparing for it, and it also helped keep his mind off all the things he didn’t want to think about. Although, he had to admit that he had been hoping to hear from Kyungsoo over spring break. He knew they had left things in a weird, ambiguous way, but he figured Kyungsoo would be bored enough to text him anyway. It was strange to miss him, and Chanyeol wondered if their friendship really was over for good.

He turned into his family’s circular driveway and then stopped at the door, taking a moment to catch his breath as he bent over with his hands on his thighs. Once he could breathe normally again, he went inside and straight to the kitchen to get water from the fridge.

“Were you running in the rain?” his mom asked him. “You’re going to get sick.”

“It’s more mist than rain,” he told her, and then downed an entire bottle of water.

“It’s cold outside,” she replied. “Go warm up.”

“I’m warm,” he said with a chuckle, but he did need to shower and change into something less damp.

After he had showered and thrown on some sweats and a T-shirt, he noticed that he had missed a message on his phone. He took a look at it and his heart sped up as he realized it was from Kyungsoo.

He tapped on his phone to see the full message.

_Just thought you’d want to know that you were right. My red hoodie is a good luck charm. I wore it to an audition and just got a callback._

Chanyeol couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face, and he quickly texted back without even thinking.

_OMG CONGRATS! I told you! I’m so happy for you!_

He sent it and waited for a response. If Kyungsoo had texted him, then hopefully that meant he was cool with them being friends again and they could go back to hanging out and watching movies together. Maybe their _noraebang_ outing could actually happen now.

_Thanks. Good luck at your game tomorrow._

Chanyeol chuckled, feeling elated and wishing Kyungsoo could actually fly up with them.

_Wear your red hoodie while watching the game!_

Kyungsoo replied with a happy face emoji, and Chanyeol wanted to reply to keep this going, but a happy face emoji seemed like a period to the conversation. Still… he sent a happy face emoji back in reply. And when Kyungsoo didn’t reply, Chanyeol plopped onto his bed and read back over the short conversation several times.

Then he realized what he was doing, and he lost his smile, putting his phone down and staring up at his ceiling while his thoughts shifted around. Why did he always get so excited when Kyungsoo texted him or talked to him? He never got this excited when Baekhyun or Jisoo texted him. To that point, why had it mattered so much to him that Kyungsoo be his friend?

There was something about Kyungsoo that had really captured Chanyeol’s imagination, and it was certainly more than his red hoodie of luck, which made Chanyeol think about that basketball game where he had spotted him in the crowd. Thousands of people were in that arena, but still, he noticed Kyungsoo. It almost felt like he was drawn to him for some reason. He was meant to notice him.

Then Chanyeol’s lips pursed into a small pout as he thought deeper about it. He remembered thinking Kyungsoo looked mean when he had first sat beside him in class, but then he had decided that Kyungsoo was just tired. At some point, he had noticed his eyes, big and round doe eyes that made him look innocent and young, despite his aura that suggested otherwise. And he was small. Chanyeol couldn’t help but to find it cute how small he was, and not in the way that Baekhyun was small. Kyungsoo was slender but somehow strong at the same time.

And then he remembered how Kyungsoo had hugged him after his basketball game and how he felt hugging him, loving how Kyungsoo squeezed him just as much as how he loved the way that Kyungsoo fit into him so well. That hug had electrified him, but he hadn’t been able to process it at the time. Now he could process it. He wanted Kyungsoo to hug him again, so he could hold Kyungsoo again because it had felt nice and like something he had been missing.

Chanyeol’s heart raced at this realization, and he admonished his brain to take a few steps back. Then he rationalized what his mind had really been telling him. He was lonely and starved for human connection. So much so that his mind was getting confused anytime he had a connection with someone. He really needed to get a girlfriend fast to take care of this so he could stop having these weird thoughts.

But first, he needed to focus on the game tomorrow.

He ended up taking a nap, which probably would have gone on for far too long had he not been woken up by little pokes to his arm and side.

“What?” he muttered, blinking his eyes open to find Jisoo sitting on his bed with a smirk.

“I just put this on my Insta,” she said, and she turned her phone around to show him the picture of him sleeping with the caption _This big baby_ across it.

“Delete that,” he said, stretching his arms out as he yawned.

“Nope,” she said with a laugh, then put her phone down. “I came by to wish you good luck before you left in the morning.”

He smiled at her and appreciated that, sitting up to get a better look at her now that he could focus.

“Thanks. Are you staying for dinner?”

“I can. Who’s cooking?”

“I’m not sure tonight,” he told her, never sure when his mom was in the mood to do any actual cooking instead of ordering food. Sometimes his dad took on the cooking duties, which usually meant something he could throw on the grill or heat up in the oven.

“I’ll stay either way,” Jisoo said, and she reached up to mess his hair up even more than it probably already was.

Chanyeol then remembered he hadn’t seen her in a while because of spring break.

“Wait, so how was your spring break trip? You went with your sorority, right?”

“It was…” Jisoo seemed to think for a second and then gave a chuckle, “It was exactly what you think it’d be.”

“How so?” he asked because he honestly wasn’t sure what he thought it would be. He imagined they just spent all their time on the beach or something. “Where did you guys go again?”

“San Diego,” she said. “One of my sorority sisters has a beach house down there and a yacht, so we did a lot of beaching and yachting.”

“Sounds fun,” he said. “Also sounds like you’re enjoying your sorority life more than you thought you would.”

“I’m doing it for the connections,” she said, shoving him to the side so she could get more comfortable on his bed. “They’re nice though. I don’t mind the friends I’ve made.”

“And the frats?” Chanyeol then thought to ask, thinking about how Jisoo and Baekhyun still appeared to be hooking up even though both of them had said it was no big deal. “Any potential boyfriends yet?”

Jisoo groaned and said, “God, don’t get me started. I did go on a couple of dates with one guy from our brother fraternity, but he’s just so… I don’t even know. Men are so frustrating.”

“Stupid men,” Chanyeol said, playing along with an amused chuckle.

“Shut up,” she said, shoving his arm. “You’re the most frustrating of all.”

“There’s no way I’m more frustrating than Baekhyun. Who, for the record, you’re still hooking up with.”

Jisoo looked at him, maybe trying to figure out his angle, but then she nodded and said, “Yeah. It’s comfortable. I think that’s why we’ve kept it going.”

“Are you sure you guys don’t want it to be something more?” he asked, trying to get to the bottom of this.

“We don’t,” she said with a firm tone. “You know Baek doesn’t believe in relationships, and I feel he has the right idea. Why tie yourself down to someone when things might change, and you may want to be with someone else? It’s better to keep things open.”

Chanyeol pursed his lips to the side as he thought about this, and then confessed, “I’ve actually been thinking about getting my first girlfriend.”

Jisoo looked at him surprised, and said, “Really?”

“Maybe you can introduce me to one of your sorority sisters,” he said, brightening up at the idea. Maybe it’d make it easier if Jisoo just picked a nice girl for him and set them up on a date.

She gave him an unbelieving look and said, “You? Mr. Star Basketball Player for the USC Trojans? I’m pretty sure they’d kick you off the team for dating someone from your rival’s school.”

“Huh,” Chanyeol said, not having considered that at all. “Good point.”

“Besides, I’m sure the sorority girls at your school would kill to date you. It’d give them the extra popularity points in their house.”

“Really?” Chanyeol said. “Wait, how do I meet a sorority girl though? Like I know there are parties on Greek row, but do you have to be invited?”

“No, just crash,” Jisoo said with a wave of her hand. “Take Baek with you. He’s a great wingman.”

Chanyeol thought about this and nodded. Baekhyun would be a good wingman. He had the kind of personality that welcomed him into anywhere and could get any person to talk to him. It hadn’t occurred to him to ask for Baek’s help before in this area, which made him think again about how Baek purposely didn’t talk to him about these types of things either. Nor did Jisoo for that matter. If he hadn’t brought it up himself, they never would have covered this topic.

“Speaking of Baek,” Chanyeol ventured, already knowing the answer to the question he wanted to ask but feeling like he needed confirmation anyway. “I take it you knew he was really bi. Like it wasn’t a phase. He’s actually bi.”

Jisoo cocked her head to look at him and then nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“I always thought it was a phase,” Chanyeol admitted with a sigh of frustration. The whole thing really did still annoy him. “He never told me he was actually hooking up with guys and girls. I just found out.”

“Oh,” she said, and then seemed to be thinking carefully about what she wanted to say, which Chanyeol was now getting used to when it came to talking to his friends about this. “Does it bother you?”

“No,” he said. “It just bothers me that he didn’t tell me. But apparently, I’m not someone who people share those kinds of things with.”

“You just don’t seem interested,” she said like everyone else had said.

“Do you also think I’m asexual?” he then asked her, looking her in the eyes for any immediate reaction.

She ended up smiling at him, and let out a small breath, “Wow, I can’t believe Baek actually told you about that.”

“Do you agree with him?”

“I don’t know,” she said, cocking her head again to look at him. “Maybe.”

“I’m not,” he clarified.

“Okay,” Jisoo said, and she looked amused. “So then go get your sorority girlfriend.”

“I will,” he said with resolve, but then added, “After basketball season’s over.”

“Right,” she said, her eyes full of mischief as she smiled at him.

When it was time for dinner, they headed down to see that his dad had been the one to cook after all. There were grilled steaks on the table and a bunch of sides in Whole Foods containers that his mother was scooping out into bowls.

“We wanted to give you a big dinner before you left in the morning,” his mother explained. “Jisoo, you’re staying for dinner, right?”

“Yep, Chanyeol made me,” she said, giving his mom a hug in greeting.

“Good,” his mother said.

“Can I taste test this?” Chanyeol teased Sehun, who was transferring mac and cheese to a bowl for his mother.

“You know what it tastes like already,” Sehun told him, and Chanyeol gave him a funny little annoyed look that made Sehun laugh.

They sat around the table once his father had finished grilling, and Chanyeol’s mother motioned for everyone to dig in and get started.

“Our flight lands just a few hours after yours,” his mother then told him. “We booked a suite at a hotel right by the arena. I’ll send you the information.”

“I’m so excited,” Sehun said.

“I can’t believe you’re letting him skip school for this,” Chanyeol said to his parents with a grin.

“It’s his senior year,” his father said, scooping more brussels sprouts onto his plate. “The last few months aren’t as important. All he has to worry about now are his college acceptance letters, which should start rolling in soon.”

“How many colleges did you apply to?” Jisoo asked Sehun as she cut her steak.

“Just five,” Sehun stated.

“I told him to apply to at least ten,” his father said.

“Five’s my lucky number,” Sehun explained, which they all already knew would be the answer. Sehun had a weird fascination with the fact that his last name, Oh, translated to the number five in Korean, and so he always picked it for everything.

“It doesn’t matter,” his mother said, picking up her glass of wine, “Sehunnie will get into all of them.”

“If he had applied to ten,” his father pointed out, “he still would have gotten into all of them.”

Jisoo chuckled and asked Sehun, “Which five did you apply to?”

“USC, UCLA, Occidental, Pomona, and UC Irvine.”

“One of those things is not like the other,” Jisoo said, looking at Sehun as if he was odd for adding UC Irvine to his otherwise prestigious list.

“He had to pick at least one school that would take him,” Chanyeol joked, and as expected, his mother made a disproving remark at him.

“Sehunnie is the smartest in his class,” she bragged, “Of course they’ll all take him.”

“Which one is your dream school?” Jisoo then asked him in between bites of her mac and cheese, which reminded Chanyeol that he needed to put more on his plate after inhaling his first serving.

“It was Pomona,” Sehun said, looking at her as he answered her, “But I took a tour of all the campuses, and I liked the campus and vibe at Occidental better. So that’s my pick now.”

“It suits you,” Jisoo said with a warm smile.

It really did. While Chanyeol knew that he wanted to go to a big university so he could play Division I ball, Sehun was quiet and did better with fewer people around. Chanyeol always had a feeling that his little brother would probably end up at a small liberal arts college one day.

“How are you liking UCLA?” Chanyeol’s dad asked Jisoo.

“It’s fine,” she told him. “It serves my purposes.”

“That’s important,” he nodded. “I know you’ll do well there.”

The conversation flowed easily as they continued to eat all of the food, not leaving much of anything left behind. Sehun and Chanyeol cleared the table, and Jisoo helped them before wishing him luck once again and leaving for the night. Once she was gone, Chanyeol headed to the refrigerator to grab a water bottle to take with him up to his room.

“You know,” his mother said, sitting on a barstool at the kitchen counter where she had been reading something on her phone, “I honestly thought that when Jisoo and her boyfriend broke up, you would have finally asked her out.”

“What?” Chanyeol asked, letting the refrigerator door swing shut as he stared at her. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?” his mother said, getting up to walk over to the cupboards. “You’ve been friends forever, and she’s beautiful. Not just beautiful, she’s stunning. She comes from a great family, and she’s going to be a lawyer. You two should be together.”

Chanyeol’s heart sped up and sunk all at once, and he wanted to run to his room and lock the door and hide.

“We’re friends. Just friends,” he said, starting to walk across the kitchen to make his exit.

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend,” his mom pointed out as she looked through the cupboard for her tea that she liked to make before bedtime. “I’ve asked her mother, and she hasn’t found anyone yet at UCLA.”

“Jisoo isn’t interested in having a boyfriend right now,” he let her know. “And I’m interested in someone else.”

His mother turned and looked at him surprised, holding the teabag she had plucked out of the box in the cupboard.

“You are? Who?”

Chanyeol cleared his throat and said, “This sorority girl on campus. You don’t know her.”

He hated lying to his mother, but he knew it would calm her for now. Plus, it wasn’t entirely untrue. He did intend on finding a sorority girl to be his girlfriend soon.

His mother smiled and looked at him for a moment then said, “Well, if it doesn’t work out, you should ask Jisoo to be your girlfriend.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and told her goodnight, heading to his room before she considered following him to continue this horrible conversation.

Once he had set his alarm and settled into his bed for the night, he thought about the conversation with his mother. She and Jisoo’s mom were close friends, which is how they had become close friends in the first place, and since Chanyeol had grown up with her, he couldn’t help but see her as more of a sister.

Sure, he had noticed that she went from looking awkward to really pretty, but it didn’t change how he felt about her. He cared about her and would protect her at all costs, but the idea of them dating was just weird, and it was part of what confused him about Jisoo and Baekhyun hooking up. How didn’t Baekhyun see her in the same way?

He decided to stop thinking about this and instead scrolled through his group chats and messages to make sure he hadn’t missed anything important, and then he re-read the texts from Kyungsoo about the red hoodie and wishing him luck. His cheeks rose as he read them, and he found he could almost envision Kyungsoo texting it to him, looking intently at his phone as he typed into it with his thick brows furrowed.

He probably had looked adorable.

Chanyeol lost his smile and bit his lip, then put his phone away so he could get some sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Jongin had thought that he no longer had to worry about the whole Chanyeol thing with Kyungsoo.

_Kyungsoo: And then when he got fouled trying to shoot a 3 and made all 3 of his baskets at the foul line. What was that? That was amazing!_

_Jongdae: It was. He played so good!_

Jongin had thought wrong.

He sighed and put his phone away, then finished warming up, knowing that this particular master class always kicked his butt. Just as the choreographer was about to start, the blue-haired boy rushed in, dropping his bag on the floor and doing some quick stretches before he joined them.

They worked through the finer points of the choreography and then were paired off to perform it for each other. Jongin was paired up with another one of the regulars, and they did a good job with it, Jongin throwing in his own little flare to one of the turns at the end.

When it was the blue-haired boy’s turn, Jongin watched with interest, really loving the way he executed the moves and also added his own signature to it. He looked young, but he was definitely trained, and Jongin got more curious about him.

Lucky for Jongin, the blue-haired boy appeared to be curious about him as well, and after class was done, he approached him with a shy smile of his own.

“I just wanted to say that I think you’re an amazing dancer,” the boy said to Jongin.

Jongin looked at him surprised and smiled humbly.

“I wanted to say the same to you,” Jongin told him back. “I’m Jongin,” he introduced himself and extended his hand, which the boy shook.

“I’m Taeyong,” he let him know.

“Nice to meet you, Taeyong. Where did you train?”

“Oh,” the boy said, looking as if he hadn’t expected Jongin to talk back to him, much less ask him a question, “I’m from Vancouver. I trained at a studio you’ve probably never heard of.”

“Oh, nice,” Jongin said, a little bit surprised. “You came down here all the way from Canada?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong said, his dark brown eyes seemed to glisten, and Jongin was struck again by how unreal this kid looked. “I meant to come down last year, but I had to save up money first. LA is expensive.”

“It is,” Jongin agreed, amused by the observation. “How long have you been dancing for?”

“Two years,” he said, and Jongin knew he had heard him wrong.

“No way,” Jongin said, thinking that was a cute joke.

“That’s why I came down here,” Taeyong explained, “To learn. I had never danced before until two years ago when my school needed more people for a musical that they were doing. My friend made me do it with him, and next thing I knew, the dance teacher at school made me start going to his studio.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Jongin said, seeing him in a new light.

“How long have you been training?” Taeyong then asked him, and Jongin was almost embarrassed to answer.

He let out a chuckle and replied, “All my life. Or it feels that way. I was very young when I started.”

“No wonder you’re amazing,” Taeyong said, looking at him with a little bit of awe that Jongin did not deserve.

“So says the guy who’s only been training for two years and was approved to take this masterclass,” Jongin threw back at him.

“I kinda begged,” Taeyong admitted. “I had to do a mini audition for the choreographer and then beg some more, and he finally said yes.”

Jongin had to admire the boy’s determination, and then he thought to ask, “How old are you?”

“18. How about you?”

“19,” Jongin said with a smile.

Taeyong smiled as well, then seemed to have a mental debate with himself before he rushed out the words, “Would you want to go get coffee sometime?”

“Oh,” Jongin said, not having expected that question, but thinking the guy probably hadn’t had a chance to make friends yet since he’d just moved down. “Right now?”

“Sure,” he said, with an expectant smile.

“Um, let me see if I have to be somewhere else,” Jongin said, grabbing his phone from his bag and seeing many missed texts from Jennie who apparently did have plans for them. “Ah, looks like I can’t. My girlfriend wants me to go with her to run some last-minute errands for a birthday dinner she’s hosting.”

“Oh,” Taeyong said, and a blush of pink appeared to rush across his cheeks. “You have a girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” Jongin said with a big smile until he started to realize why Taeyong suddenly looked a little sheepish, “Wait…”

“Just kidding,” Taeyong said, his hand now on his neck as he scratched it and took a few steps backward, “Um, cancel that. Forget I asked.”

“Wait…” Jongin said, putting his hand up to get him to stop moving. “Are you gay?”

“Technically bi,” Taeyong said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to assume. It’s not like I thought you were gay just because you’re a dancer or anything. You’re just really good looking, so I thought I’d take a chance. I am really embarrassed right now.”

“Don’t be,” Jongin said, his pulse racing as the possibilities unfolded in front of his very eyes. “I’m straight, but my best friend isn’t, and he’s very single, and… what if I set you guys up on a blind coffee date instead?”

Taeyong looked intrigued by this and asked, “Is he as good looking as you are?”

“Not in the same way,” Jongin said with a sudden laugh. “But I promise you, he’s attractive.”

Taeyong chuckled and said, “I swear I’m not as superficial as I’m coming off. I was just wondering. But I guess a blind date could be fun. I’ve only been in LA for a couple of weeks, so I don’t really know anyone or any places to go.”

“Give me your number,” Jongin said, creating a new contact on his phone. “I’ll text you time and place.”

They exchanged numbers, and Jongin could’ve seriously hugged this guy right then and there. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, and even though he didn’t know Taeyong that well yet, he got the sense that it would be a huge improvement over Chanyeol. The fact that he knew he was bi and didn’t have a problem letting people know was already a plus.

He had to wait until he met up with Jennie at the potential birthday restaurant to finally text Kyungsoo to give him the news. His smile was so bright and mischievous that Jennie noticed immediately and gave him a curious look after she had greeted him with a kiss.

“Why do you look like you’re up to something?” she asked him, and he chuckled and held the door open for her so they could enter what appeared to be a pawn shop.

“I found someone to set Kyungsoo up on a blind date with,” he said like he was sharing an important scheme.

“Oooh,” she said, and Jongin knew she was going to want all the details.

They headed to the counter to speak with the supposed pawn shop owner, and Jennie told him the password required for him to direct them to a hidden door in the corner that blended into the wall. Jongin followed her lead, through a luxurious foyer with a spiral staircase that led to a second floor.

“Welcome,” a hostess greeted them, “do you have a reservation?”

“I have an appointment with the manager,” Jennie told her and gave the hostess her name so she could alert the manager.

The hostess hung up the phone and then smiled and told them to follow her. They climbed the spiral staircase, and when they got to the top, Jongin found an opulent restaurant that mimicked a 1920s speakeasy.

Jongin took in the height of the restaurant and the large teardrop chandeliers that hung down and gave a warm glow to the space, bright enough to see the person sitting across from you at your table, but dark enough to give an intimate vibe.

“I don’t know if this place speaks Lisa,” Jongin went ahead and mentioned.

“Just wait,” Jennie told him with a confident smile, and Jongin smiled back at her, knowing that she was the expert when it came to this.

A man in a suit, probably in his early 30’s, walked over to them and immediately put his hand out toward Jennie.

“Ms. Kim,” he said in greeting, and likely to make sure he was speaking to the right person, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He introduced himself, and then Jennie introduced Jongin to him, and Jongin shook the man’s hand as well.

“Let me show you the first location you were interested in,” he said, and they followed him as he led them away from the main restaurant and through a sliding glass door, into another hallway and then into a cozier private room, with dimmer lighting that made the ambience very red.

“This particular room leads out to the balcony,” the manager explained as he took them to the outside area, which Jongin had to admit was pretty cool. It was enclosed partially by the brick exterior of the building, and couches were set up with low wooden tables that each held a candle. “We can either set it up so that you have the balcony reserved, and we would remove half of the couches to put a table in its place, or we could leave the balcony as-is and close off the entire private dining room for you and your guests as well. Do you have a final headcount yet for the party?”

“Twelve,” Jennie told him, and Jongin was surprised to hear that. It was more than the six that Lisa had requested but far less than Jennie’s original numbers. He was a bit proud of her, but he didn’t want to tell her in front of the manager who was now talking about how they could arrange everything best for twelve people.

After he finished showing them that particular area, he led them back downstairs and into another private dining room, this one leading out to a beautiful courtyard that had ivy snaking up the brick walls and fairy lights strung above the tables. A large black wrought iron gate that exited out to the alleyway provided the backdrop.

“We could do exactly the same thing here,” the manager explained, as he told her how they’d close off the area for them to dine and socialize in privacy.

Once he finished, Jennie looked at Jongin and asked him, “What do you think?”

“I think this is really pretty,” Jongin admitted, liking the setup of the courtyard, “But if you’re looking for privacy, then I think upstairs would be better.”

Jennie smiled at him and said, “I had the same thought.” She then turned to the manager and told him, “This area is stunning, but this particular friend that the party is for prefers intimate gatherings. I think she’d feel more comfortable if we could have it in the area upstairs.”

“That makes perfect sense,” the manager said, “especially since, as you saw, you can look down from the balcony into this area.”

Jongin did remember that, and he looked up to see the balcony from this perspective. You couldn’t see into it, and that probably worked out better for whatever Jennie was planning.

“That’s perfect,” Jennie said, “We can enjoy this view even from up there. Let’s go ahead with the upstairs area then.”

“Wonderful,” the manager said, “let’s get all the particulars in the system then.”

They followed him back to the reception area where a line now formed of people checking in for their reservations. Jongin listened as Jennie confirmed that it would be 12 people, the date and time, and then discussed the pricing plus the extra fee that she would be charged for the matter that had been discussed over the phone, which Jongin knew was code for letting them order alcohol even though they were still underage. Jennie also made sure to confirm that the playlist she created would be played for them throughout the night.

Once everything was done, the manager then mentioned, “Since you enjoyed the courtyard so much, would you like to have dinner there tonight?”

“If you have a table available, that would be great,” Jennie told him.

Jongin looked at her with a suspicious glance.

“I had originally reserved a table for you in the main dining room,” the manager said with a smile as he grabbed two menus, “We can certainly switch it to the courtyard if you prefer.” 

“That would be nice. Thank you,” Jennie replied.

They followed him once again, out into the courtyard where they were seated next to the brick wall, under a lantern and the hanging lights. The manager told them to enjoy their dinner, then left to go back to running the restaurant.

“What’s that look for?” Jennie asked, opening her menu.

“You did all this for dinner,” Jongin told her. “You didn’t really need a tour. You’d already been here and knew what you wanted. You just wanted to eat here tonight.”

“That’s not true,” she said with a laugh. “I wanted you to give your opinion too. You know Lisa so well, so I figured you’d know if I was picking the right setup or not.”

“Mhmm,” Jongin said, pretending to not believe her. “Honestly, I’m more shocked that you actually listened to me and Lisa and cut down the guest list. She wanted six though. You doubled it.”

“I had to,” Jennie explained, “They have an 11-person limit on special events, so I had to play along so I could get them to agree to my terms and make it worth their while.”

“If you could pay them for the topic you discussed over the phone, you could pay them to let you host this with only six people,” Jongin pointed out.

“The private room rental would have been the same regardless of six or 12,” Jennie told him. “With 12 people, we order more food and drinks and the restaurant and servers end up making more money. It’s only fair, right?”

Jongin smiled at her and had the random thought that if nothing else, his parents would appreciate her business ethic.

“That’s a good point,” Jongin agreed. “So then, who are these six extra people that you’re inviting?”

Their server came over at that moment to take their drink orders. Jongin said he was fine with just water, and Jennie said she’d like water as well, but then added that they would have two glasses of champagne.

Jongin raised his eyebrow at her once their server left, and Jennie gave him a mischievous smile and said, “Do you know what today is?”

He tried to think of the date, but it didn’t seem important, so he answered, “No?”

“It’s our 200-Day Anniversary,” she stated, and Jongin’s expression amused her to the point that she laughed.

He knew he had to look a little disturbed, and he gave her a look that said “seriously?” before he could say the words.

“Why are you being so Korean right now?” he asked her, trying to not show any amusement as she broke out into giggles. Although this all now explained why she had told him that he needed to shower and change into something nice before meeting her instead of just showing up in the clothes he had danced in.

“I can’t help it,” she said, giggling again, “I love the tradition of all the crazy couple anniversaries.”

He vaguely remembered that she had said something similar at their 100-Day Anniversary, which she had also caught him off guard with. He had meant to make sure and mark it in his calendar, but he hadn’t remembered that it kept going to the next 100 days. He swore he could hear his parents saying again that this was why they had left Korea in the first place.

“Okay, well,” he said, letting a little bit of the amusement start to show, “I was not keeping tracking of that, so I have nothing prepared for you.”

“It’s okay,” Jennie told him, looking amused with herself, “I kept track, and that’s all that matters. So, we’re here having dinner in this gorgeous courtyard, and we’re going to celebrate with champagne, and then we’re going to take a ton of couple selfies to commemorate it.”

Jongin had to get up so that he could lean across the table and give her a small kiss on her lips. Then he sat back down, looking at her, and said, “I love that you kept track. I love that you keep track of special moments and that you came here to plan a great birthday for your friend and thought it was the right place for us to celebrate our 200th day together.”

Jennie looked a little shy as she lifted her shoulder and cocked her head, and she replied, “I love that you love that about me and accept that I’m like that. People make fun of me and say I’m so Type A about important dates.”

“Those people are dumb,” Jongin assured her, reaching across to hold her hand in his. And then he took a moment to really think about what they were celebrating and remarked, “It’s been 200 days? Really?”

“Yep,” she nodded with enthusiasm, giving his hand a small squeeze, “Six and a half months since Lisa set us up on our first date. Which reminds me, you need to tell me about Kyungsoo and who you’re setting him up with!”

Jongin chuckled and squeezed her hand back, then let it go as the server returned with their water and glasses of champagne.

They put in their food orders, and once they were left alone again, Jongin explained to Jennie how the new guy at the studio had hit on him, and he had seen it as the perfect opportunity to set them up. He hadn’t told Jennie his feelings on Chanyeol, mostly because he didn’t think she knew about what had happened between him and Kyungsoo, so he avoided explaining all that and just let her know that he thought that Kyungsoo and Taeyong would get along.

“I’m so happy,” Jennie said with a little clap. “Kyungsoo deserves someone really cute to be happy with. Let’s toast to that too.” She lifted her glass.

Jongin obliged her and lifted his glass as well.

“To Kyungsoo and Taeyong having a great first date so they can spend their 200th day at a nice restaurant celebrating,” she began, and Jongin snickered, which made Jennie giggle before continuing, “And to us, for proving Lisa right.” Jongin nodded and gave her a warm smile for that as she finished with, “Here’s to the next 100 days.”

“To Kyungsoo, Taeyong, Lisa, today being the 200th day, and to the next 100 days,” he echoed the sentiment, clinking his glass with hers. Jongin went ahead and just guzzled his champagne in one big gulp because he didn’t really care for the taste of alcohol to begin with.

Their ceviche appetizer came out and Jongin brought up his previous question again to her as he scooped some of the ceviche onto his small plate.

“So, you haven’t said yet who else you’re inviting to Lisa’s party to make it come up to 12.”

“Well, I figured Rosé and Jisoo could bring dates so that they didn’t feel like third and fourth wheels, so Rosé is bringing Sehun, and Jisoo is bringing Baekhyun.”

Jongin felt relieved, almost worried she was going to say that Jisoo was bringing Chanyeol, not that it mattered if Kyungsoo wasn’t there, but he didn’t think he’d be particularly nice to the guy after everything that had happened.

“And then,” she continued, “I figured that you and Jongdae would really like Kyungsoo there, and Lisa did confirm that she likes Kyungsoo and thinks he’s cool, so I invited him.”

“That’s nine,” Jongin nodded.

“And then I thought that Jisoo and Baekhyun would want Chanyeol with them, and Lisa said she was fine with that, so that’s ten.”

Jongin stayed quiet, and just let her finish, but mentally he was spewing all kinds of curses in his head.

“So, then I was going to tell Kyungsoo and Chanyeol to bring dates, so that would be twelve,” she said with a proud grin, knowing the idea had been clever. Except that Chanyeol was coming and there was nothing clever about that. “The only problem is,” Jennie then added, “Chanyeol might not be able to come if his team keeps winning.”

“I hope they win,” Jongin said, and then wiped his mouth with the napkin on his lap.

“I do too,” Jennie said, oblivious that their reasons for this diverged, “It’s okay. If he can’t make it, I’ll just invite some of our friends from school that I think Lisa liked.”

Jongin drank more of his water then said, “Well, if this coffee date between Kyungsoo and Taeyong goes well, maybe that could be his date.”

“That would be so cute,” Jennie cooed. “I really hope it works out. Which coffee shop are you having them meet at?”

“I was thinking Caffe Benne, in K-town.”

“Perfect,” Jennie approved, and Jongin was proud of himself for picking correctly. “I wish we could set up a camera and watch.”

Jongin laughed at the idea, thinking that as amusing as it would be, he’d rather not. Their main courses came out soon after and they both enjoyed the food, Jongin remarking that he knew Lisa was going to love her birthday dinner based on the food alone. At the end of the night, when Jongin was expecting the check to be brought to them, the server came out instead with a large rectangular dish that was set between them on the table.

“Congratulations on your anniversary,” she said, and Jennie quickly handed her phone to the server so that she could take a picture of them together.

Jennie had come over to Jongin’s side of the table and sat on his lap with her arms around his neck, legs crossed toward the table and giving as perfect of a pose as ever. Jongin did his best to make sure his smile was natural and not ridiculously put on in the moment.

Jennie thanked the server and looked through the pictures, smiling wide in a way that let Jongin knew that she approved, so his smile must have turned out fine. They both enjoyed the desserts that had come on the congratulatory plate, which had “Congrats” written on it in white chocolate surrounded by bite-sized cookies, brownies, and doughnuts.

“Are they going to do this for Lisa’s birthday as well?” Jongin asked, enjoying every second of the perfectly fried doughnut.

“Yep,” Jennie said. “She’s going to love it, right?”

“She’s going to more than love it,” he assured her.

The manager came by just as they finished up and asked them if everything had gone well. They told him that it went more than well, and he informed them that their celebration was on the house. And even though Jennie and Jongin both protested, the manager insisted. Jongin figured with as much money as Jennie was dropping for Lisa’s birthday party, the manager wasn’t going to take any chances of Jennie changing her mind.

***

It wasn’t until they were back at Jennie’s dorm that Jongin got the chance to finally text Kyungsoo about the blind date. Jongin had gotten comfortable in Jennie’s bed in a T-shirt and his boxers, waiting for Jennie to finish her nighttime routine in the bathroom.

_Jongin: So guess what? I’m setting you up on a blind date._

_Kyungsoo: Say what????_

_Jongin: I met someone that I think you would really like. How does Saturday at noon sound? At Caffe Benne in Ktown._

_Kyungsoo: Are you drunk?_

_Jongin: LOL no. But you so owe me for this._

_Kyungsoo: I don’t owe you for something I didn’t agree to. Who is this person? What’s their favorite movie?_

_Jongin: Trust me. You’re going to like him. And you can ask him yourself what his favorite movie is, you nerd._

_Kyungsoo: Do you even know this person? You said it’s someone you met. How do you know he’s not a serial killer? Or worse, a Michael Bay fan._

_Jongin: You’re going to have fun. I can’t wait to hear all about it._

_Kyungsoo: I didn’t agree to this. I’m not meeting someone you just met!_

Jongin didn’t reply and just waited for the tirade he knew would follow.

_Kyungsoo: Jongin, I’m serious._

_Kyungsoo: Are you messing with me? I’m going to tell your mom._

_Kyungsoo: You better reply back that you were joking._

_Kyungsoo: Nini!!!_

Jongin chuckled and put his phone on Jennie’s desk, relaxing a bit before she came back out, much to his surprise, wearing nothing.

“Oh, so it’s that kind of 200-Day Anniversary,” he teased, sitting up a bit so he could relax against his elbows while he watched her walk over to him.

“It is,” she said, and she flipped the light switch, leaving only the light from the lamp beside her bed illuminated.

He loved the way she moved toward him, mischievous and with purpose, finally reaching the bed and sliding onto him like she was perfectly crafted and made to be worn only by him. Jongin loved when Jennie took the initiative like this. At first, when they had started making out, she always seemed a little coy, always waiting for him to kiss her first or make the first move, but at some point, she had shown him that she could take the lead, and every time she did, he knew he was in for a great night.

It didn’t mean he let her do everything. In fact, it was on nights like this when she seemed to most enjoy being spoiled by him. So, after they kissed for a while, she teased him with her hips, rolling them against his as they made out. He grabbed her shoulders to turn her gently, following the movement with his own body so that he was now the one above her.

He took his shirt off, and she raked her perfectly manicured fingernails down his chest, whimpering in want and need that he was more than ready to take care of. He teased her with his fingers first, letting his hand play between her legs as he scooted down, and then he rubbed his thumb over her clit, which made her gasp in a way that made his dick twitch.

Jongin settled into a comfortable spot, grasping her thighs as he pressed his lips against the spot his thumb had just left, and after teasing that same spot with soft, playful kisses which made her whimper even more, he let his tongue in on the action, flicking it rapidly as she grabbed a fistful of his hair and bucked her hips up.

He liked going down on girls, mostly because he liked how much they liked it, but also because it turned him on in a crazy way that always made him add more vigor to the act. Jennie was practically yelling at him to fuck her before she came.

Never one to disappoint his girl on their anniversary, even on their 200-day one, he pulled his mouth away and got up so he could hurry out of his boxers and grab a condom that he had in his bag. Jennie welcomed him back onto the bed by going down on him, which made Jongin let out a moan that might have been too loud.

The one drawback of always hooking up in Jennie’s dorm room was that the walls were thin, and they had to be cognizant of the amount of noise they made. They had been interrupted one too many times before by a knock on the wall and someone yelling at them to shut up.

Jennie did Jongin the favor of putting the condom on, and then she turned around so that she was on all fours. She moved her ass right up against his hips and ground against him in a motion that made his eyes tighten close because he was about to lose it before he even got it in.

He regained control of himself and grabbed her hips, lining himself up so that he could thrust into her pussy, going slow at first to relish in the ecstasy that came with feeling the warmth envelop his dick, and then speeding up as she told him that she wanted it faster, and then harder, and then he was crying out because the mere commands coming from her desperate pleas was enough to send him over the edge.

He tried to hold on until she reached her orgasm as well, and he was relieved when she cried out, tensing up around him in a way that excited him all over again. They collapsed onto the bed, holding onto each other and panting, and Jongin took a moment to consider all of the events of the day, then ended up chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Jennie asked him, her hand on his chest as she tilted her head up a little to look at him.

“I just thought about how I’m now going to make sure to mark every hundred days on my calendar,” he said, and chuckled again, knowing he was being silly.

Jennie giggled and cuddled into him more, and Jongin reached toward her desk to turn off the lamp, thinking that he honestly did want to make sure to be prepared when it was time for their 300th day.


	17. Chapter 17

Kyungsoo really had meant it when he had told Jongin that he had no intentions of going on the coffee date. For starters, Jongin’s taste was questionable considering he was dating Jennie. Secondly, Chanyeol’s team had made it to the second round and the game was that night. And third, Kyungsoo was scared shitless in general to go on a blind date.

He had never been on one before, and Jongdae had told him that it was exactly why he should go on one, stating, “You have to have the experience at least once. What if you have to do it for a movie role?”

The fact that it could come in handy for a future role had convinced him, and Jongdae had promised to be on standby in case the guy turned out to be a psychopath and he needed to get him out of the situation or call the cops.

On the morning of the coffee date, he had debated what to wear. He had tried to get more information out of Jongin about the guy, but Jongin wouldn’t budge, saying that he needed to trust him and that he didn’t want to spoil the surprise. When Kyungsoo had asked him that he needed to at least know how he looked so he knew who he was when he got there, Jongin had simply said, “Trust me. When you see him, you’ll know it’s him.”

It all sounded crazy to Kyungsoo, but he had showered and spent more time than usual sifting through the clothes in his closet. Since it was a casual afternoon in the coffee shop sort of date, he decided that jeans would work. He paired it with a soft and slim-fitting olive green T-shirt, then tried to dress up the whole look with a black belt and a pair of black Vans.

He didn’t know what to do with his hair, but then again, he never knew what to do with it, which is why he tried to keep it short. But somehow, after the last haircut he had gotten, the front and top of his hair seemed to have grown out a bit longer and now it presented a conundrum. In the end, he brushed it and just let it fall wherever it wanted.

He arrived at Caffe Benne right on time, not wanting to awkwardly be sitting there waiting for someone that he didn’t even know. Kyungsoo tried to not freak out that he was doing this in the first place, even though everything about this idea was uncomfortable. He texted Jongin to let him know that he had just parked and hated everything about this. Jongin didn’t reply back, so either he was ignoring him on purpose or actually busy, neither being things that Kyungsoo needed to be happening at that moment.

After taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he got out of his car and went into the two-story coffee shop, which was one of his favorites in K-town. He and Jongdae studied there sometimes because they liked how the space felt industrial but warm at the same time, with large cement pilings in the middle surrounded by brick walls and wooden tables that were perfect for studying or conversation. A large steampunk-looking clock hung over the large expanse of windows that faced the street, and that had always been Kyungsoo’s favorite feature in the shop, choosing to always face it when he and Jongdae hung out there.

At the counter, looking over the drink menu, he did a quick scan around the front area to see if he saw anyone that seemed like they were waiting for someone. But all he saw was a girl studying in the corner, and a couple engaged in conversation by the window. He texted Jongin again to ask him if he could at least tell him what he was wearing, and then he ordered an iced vanilla latte. As he stood at the pick-up counter, he was grateful that Jongin appeared to have found his phone and had sent a text back to Kyungsoo telling him to not worry and to just have fun.

How could he have fun when he was this nervous and lost? He let Jongin know that he was bad at the whole setting people up on blind dates thing, and he also told him he was a bad brother for setting it up here instead of at his sister’s café to give her the business. Jongin sent him back a simple “LOL” response.

_Kyungsoo: Can you at least let me know if he’s here yet?_

_Jongin: He got there about 15 minutes ago._

Shit. Kyungsoo did another scan, this time of the rest of the café since he could now see it from the pick-up area.

He spotted two businessmen talking over coffee, he spotted another girl studying, he spotted a guy on his laptop and paused. He seemed around his age, but he also seemed to be working intently on something and not waiting for someone to show up.

The barista gave him his iced vanilla latte, and Kyungsoo thanked her and took a sip of it before scanning again, seeing a girl typing on her laptop, and then, a couple of tables away from her, there was a guy with the brightest blue hair Kyungsoo had ever seen.

His heart raced as he noticed the guy texting on his phone and glancing up toward the door then looking back at his phone. Holy shit. It had to be him. Kyungsoo took another deep breath and found the courage to head in the guy’s direction, going up the few steps to the raised area with the wooden tables where the guy sat.

As he got closer, he tried to take in his appearance better. He was small, maybe too small. Kyungsoo had a thing for guys taller than him, and based on what he was seeing, that didn’t seem to be the case here. He had on a tan sweater and wore a thin chain around his neck that hung down to his chest. Kyungsoo also noticed that he had a small hoop earring on his left ear.

The guy looked up again to check the room for his blind date, and he noticed Kyungsoo walking toward him. The guy blinked, and so did Kyungsoo, wondering how his feet kept going when he wanted to run because this was so painfully awkward.

When he finally reached the table, it took him a moment to say anything because the guy was looking up at him and it gave Kyungsoo a real chance to see what he looked like. The only word that Kyungsoo could think of was “pretty.” He was really freaking pretty.

“Uh, hi,” Kyungsoo finally said, and he smiled at the guy, who smiled back at him. “Um, did Jongin… do you know Jongin?”

The guy nodded and stood up, extending his hand to him, “I’m Taeyong. Are you my blind date?”

Kyungsoo let out a soft chuckle and nodded his head, “Yeah, I’m Kyungsoo.”

“Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo,” he said, motioning to the table, and then they both sat down.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Kyungsoo told him, looking at his drink to see what he had ordered. “What did you get?”

“Oh, the maple latte macchiato,” he said, lifting it up for him to see. “I’m Canadian so I had to get it. I can confirm they’re not using real maple syrup in this.”

“I didn’t imagine they would be,” Kyungsoo said with a chuckle. “I got the vanilla latte.”

“Is it good?” Taeyong asked him, and Kyungsoo thought he was feeling as nervous as he was, since he had put his cup back down and now had his hands out of view behind the table, like maybe they were holding onto each other for support.

“It’s pretty good,” Kyungsoo confirmed. “I get it a lot when I come here. Either this or just the iced coffee.”

“Do you live around here?”

“No. I go to USC, so I live on campus. Well, across the street from campus.”

“Oh,” Taeyong nodded, then his eyes squinted a little, “So that’s not near here?”

“It’s…” Kyungsoo tried to think of how to explain the distance. “I mean, it is, but it’s just a different neighborhood. Like a few miles south of here.”

“Oh,” Taeyong said, nodding again, “I’ve only been here a couple of weeks, so I’m still trying to learn everything.”

Kyungsoo looked at him surprised, and Taeyong seemed to be surprised too as he looked back at him.

“You just got here? From Canada?” Kyungsoo asked, wondering how this guy had been here only two weeks and was already on a blind date with someone. Also, how did Jongin even meet him in two weeks?

“Yeah,” Taeyong said with a smile. “Vancouver.”

“Wow,” Kyungsoo said, and then he said, “Welcome then.”

Taeyong chuckled and said, “Thanks,” then lifted one of his hands from his lap to grab his cup and take another sip.

“So, how did you meet Jongin?” Kyungsoo asked, needing to know how he was currently in this situation of sitting across from him at the coffee shop.

“In dance class.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo nodded, and suddenly things started to make sense. “So you’re a dancer. That explains the blue hair.”

“Huh, yeah,” Taeyong said, removing his hand from his cup and now running it through the back of his head. “Well, I mean, no. I mean, I just wanted to come to LA with a new look. I thought it might help me stand out from other people and book jobs quicker.”

“That’s smart,” Kyungsoo said, “I’ve never thought to dye my hair before.”

“I bet it’d look good on you,” Taeyong said, and Kyungsoo wondered if that meant he thought he was good looking or if he thought he needed improvement.

“I’ll have to try it sometime,” Kyungsoo said, not knowing which way to take it, so just answering nicely. “So dancing is what brought you down to LA? How old are you? Are you in school too or anything?”

“18,” Taeyong said. “I was going to move down here after high school, but I needed time to save up more money since LA is so expensive. I wasn’t really the school type, so I didn’t bother applying to any colleges.”

Kyungsoo snorted and explained, “I tried that route and my parents made me apply and go anyway. How did you get out of it?”

“Umm,” Taeyong hesitated a little as if debating if he wanted to share. Kyungsoo almost told him that he didn’t have to, but he answered before he could, “I don’t really talk to my parents.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, and nodded in some sort of understanding, “well at least you got to do what you wanted then.”

“I’m trying to anyway,” Taeyong said, grabbing his cup again, but not lifting it to drink. Instead, he played with the condensation on the cup. “So what’s your major then?”

“Theater,” Kyungsoo told him. “I’m an actor. At least I will be when I get this part I auditioned for.”

“Nice,” Taeyong said, brightening up again, which Kyungsoo was happy for. He noted to himself to stay away from family-related topics with him. “Is it for a movie?”

“An indie feature,” Kyungsoo confirmed, also playing with his cup, but at least it wasn’t because he was nervous anymore. “It’s being directed by this up-and-coming indie filmmaker who’s at that weird point in his career where he has to prove himself. His first movie got the critics’ attention, but it didn’t do all that great at the indie box office, so this second movie is really important for him. But anyway, I got a callback, and I think I did well, so I’m just waiting to hear.”

“That’s so cool,” Taeyong said, looking a bit mesmerized by the details. “Have you ever been in a movie before?”

“Not yet. I’ve just done high school plays, so I really need this to get my career going.”

“I think you’ll get it,” Taeyong said, and Kyungsoo smiled at him and said thanks, then sipped more of his drink. “Are you from here?”

“The OC,” Kyungsoo told him, then clarified, forgetting he was from out of the country, “Orange County. It’s the county south of Los Angeles County. I’m from Irvine.”

“Oh,” Taeyong said, looking as if he was attempting to process this. “I wasn’t expecting LA to be so big.”

“It’s even bigger when you include the OC,” Kyungsoo told him with a chuckle. “I hope you came down with a car.”

“That’s part of what I was saving up for back home,” he nodded. “I did my research and heard that you needed a car here because it was big, but it’s still bigger than I thought.”

“Which part did you end up moving to?”

“North Hollywood,” he said, and Kyungsoo smiled.

“NoHo is cool.”

“I wanted somewhere that was close to the dance studio since that’s where I was going to be spending most of my time.”

“Makes sense,” Kyungsoo told him, and he considered asking him if he wanted to split something to eat while they sat there since he had deduced that he at least wasn’t a serial killer. “Do you live alone?”

“No,” Taeyong told him, “I’m renting a room in a 3-bedroom condo that has three other people in it. The owners have the master bedroom, and the other room has another renter, and then my room has me. It’s temporary until I start making money and can move into my own place.”

Kyungsoo looked at him in awe for a moment, thinking how difficult it had to be to try and chase your dreams on your own and independent of parental help. Kyungsoo wondered if he had the drive to do the same. He thought he would, since he knew he had his own independent streak of doing things differently than the rest of his family, but still… he had his family, and Taeyong didn’t seem to have his. It was interesting.

“Did I bore you already?” Taeyong asked, his eyes widening a little in curiosity.

“No,” Kyungsoo said quickly, shaking his head for emphasis and giving him a smile to assure him, “I was just thinking about how amazing you are for following your dreams on your own like that. It’s like every Hollywood story you hear about someone moving here from somewhere else and living in a car until they get their big break.”

Taeyong looked a little relieved then said, “I’m doing everything I can to make sure I don’t have to live in my car.” Kyungsoo giggled at that, and then Taeyong asked him, “So, you live on campus? What year are you again?”

“I’m a freshman,” Kyungsoo said, “I technically live on campus, but it’s actually an off-campus apartment across the street. It’s owned by USC, so it counts as on campus. And I have a roommate. Who also happens to be my best friend. My other best friend,” he then clarified. “I have two best friends, Jongin and Jongdae.”

“You have two best friends and they both happen to have names that are almost the same?” Taeyong asked disbelievingly.

“I like consistency,” Kyungsoo joked, and then gave a small smirk to show he was joking since Taeyong seemed to have taken him seriously.

“Oh,” Taeyong said, still looking a little confused. “So, do you dance too?”

“Not really,” Kyungsoo said, “I mean, not in a professional way like you and Jongin. I’ve taken some hip-hop classes with Jongin, and I’ve done dance for musicals in high school, but that’s like it.”

“That makes sense,” Taeyong nodded, and then he sucked his lips in as he thought about something. “You said you tried to get out of going to college, but USC is really hard to get into isn’t it? So, you must have been good in school.”

“I hated school,” Kyungsoo made sure to point out. “I find sitting in a classroom listening to someone talk super boring. But… I come from a family of overachievers, so the expectations were high.”

“But still, you had to be smart enough to meet those expectations.”

Kyungsoo shrugged, not sure how to answer that. He didn’t think he was smart compared to his family, “I don’t know. I guess,” he finally said, not really caring either way. “I’m sure you are too.”

“I barely graduated,” he said, shutting his eyes with a smile as if he was embarrassed to admit it. “To be fair, senior year was a mess for me, so school wasn’t my main focus. I spent most of that year trying to get better at dancing so I could get out of there.”

He was really starting to wonder about Taeyong’s past. It certainly seemed more interesting than his own.

“Do you want to split something to eat?” Kyungsoo finally asked him. “While we sit here.”

“Yeah,” Taeyong said, “That sounds good. What do you want to split?”

“The chocolate souffle is good if you’re into that,” Kyungsoo suggested, “Or we could do a sandwich if you want something not sweet.”

“Let’s do the souffle,” Taeyong said with a smile.

Kyungsoo said he’d go order it, and he left the table, giving him a chance to process how things were going so far. Taeyong seemed nice and interesting, and he was undeniably pretty. He was actually impressed with Jongin for setting him up with someone like that, and he wondered what it was about Taeyong that had made Jongin think they’d like each other.

Regardless, he wasn’t hating this blind date, and it was kind of nice to be out and meeting someone new instead of just sitting at home waiting for Chanyeol’s game to start that night. Which reminded him.

_Kyungsoo: Good luck tonight! I’ll be watching so you better win._

_Chanyeol: Just wear the hoodie! Don’t let me down!_

_Kyungsoo: You technically won’t know if I’m wearing it or not._

_Chanyeol: Not the point. The universe knows, so you have to wear it. You better send me a selfie of you wearing it before the game starts._

_Kyungsoo: What if I have Jongdae wear it instead?_

_Chanyeol: Don’t tempt fate!_

_Kyungsoo: Fine, I’ll send you a selfie before the game starts._

_Chanyeol: You’re doing the Lord’s work. Thank you!_

Kyungsoo replied with an angel emoji and tried to not think too hard about how he wished he was up in San Jose at the game, cheering Chanyeol on to his next victory.

When the soufflé was ready, Kyungsoo took it and two forks back to the table, setting it down in the middle for them before sitting again.

“This looks good,” Taeyong said, trying a bite, making sure to get both ice cream and souffle on his fork.

Kyungsoo did the same and then looked at him for his reaction, watching him nod, and asked, “Do you like it?”

“Mhm,” Taeyong said, still nodding and taking another forkful. “It’s not as sweet as I thought it would be.”

“It’s a subtle sweet,” Kyungsoo agreed. “What kinds of food do you like? Like what are your favorite foods?”

“I have a sweet tooth,” he said, “I like anything chocolate. Most fruits. I guess my favorite meal would be noodles. How about you?”

“I like everything mostly,” Kyungsoo replied, thinking he would eat just about anything. “I like savory things. I think I like noodles and steak about evenly. Meat in general.”

Taeyong smiled at him, then asked, “So what do you do in your spare time? When you’re not busy with school and acting things.”

“Watch movies usually,” he said, hoping that didn’t make him sound boring. “Sometimes I play video games, but mostly I watch movies and hang out with my friends.”

“The actor thing,” Taeyong said in understanding. “What kind of movies do you like best?”

“Movies that make me think,” Kyungsoo said, excited that they had gotten onto this topic. “Movies that are unexpected, or different, or blow my mind in a way.”

“Wow,” Taeyong said, his eyes widening, “What’s your favorite movie then?”

“ _Inception_. Have you ever heard of it?” Taeyong shook his head, which Kyungsoo had figured. “It’s an old movie that came out like ten years ago. I didn’t see it until I was a little older. It was because my dad sat me and my brother down one night to watch _The Dark Knight_ , the Batman movie? And I really loved it, so I made it my mission to watch all of that director’s movies, and I stumbled upon _Inception_ and it changed my life.”

“What’s it about?” Taeyong looked at him as if he was amused by how passionately Kyungsoo spoke about it.

Kyungsoo was just grateful that he didn’t look turned off by it.

“It’s a sci-fi movie where this guy can enter someone’s dreams and steal vital information. He gets hired for a big dream ‘heist’ and assembles a skilled group of people to pull it off.”

Taeyong looked intrigued and asked, “If he assembles a group, do they all go into the dream, or do they just help him go into the dream?”

“They all go,” Kyungsoo said with a big grin, “It’s so cool.”

“That sounds like a crazy movie.”

“It kind of is,” Kyungsoo nodded, then went ahead and asked him, “What kind of movies do you like?”

“Um, I like animation actually. My favorite movie is _Howl’s Moving Castle_.”

Kyungsoo mentally was relieved to hear that he wasn’t a Michael Bay fan. If he had said something like _Transformers_ , he was going to have to leave the café.

“I love that movie,” Kyungsoo agreed. “I love all of Miyazaki’s films. My favorite of his is _My Neighbor Totoro_.”

“You…” Taeyong began, then stopped himself.

“I?”

“I wa… uh…,” Taeyong chuckled to himself and seemed a little shy again, “I was going to say you… I mean, you would like that one.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, trying to follow. “Because it’s weird?”

“Because you have big eyes,” he said, and then he chuckled again, his hand going to the back of his neck again to scratch it. “I feel like you look like him.”

Oh. That definitely wasn’t a good thing. Pretty boy clearly did not think Kyungsoo was attractive if he thought he looked like a gigantic furry tree spirit. This thought process must have shown on his face because Taeyong’s hand was now waving in front of him as if telling him to stop.

“No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” he said. “I’m not saying you look like Totoro. It’s just your eyes. They’re so big. And his eyes were big.”

“Right,” Kyungsoo nodded, and he grabbed his empty cup to sip from it anyway, only getting watered down remnants out of it.

“I like… your eyes,” he then said, and Kyungsoo looked up at him, unsure. “Like, that. The way you’re looking at me like that cat in _Puss in Boots_.”

“So now I look like an animated cat?” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“I told you,” Taeyong said, laughing a bit self-consciously, “I like animation. I don’t know who else to compare you to.”

Kyungsoo supposed that was fair, which made him ask, “Is that why you look like you stepped straight out of an anime?”

“Uh, maybe?” Taeyong shrugged, not seeming to take it as an insult or a compliment. “Maybe I’m not real. Maybe I’m an animation come to life, and I’ve drawn you into my animation. Maybe this was my animated dream heist.”

Kyungsoo smiled. He liked that concept a lot. He momentarily forgot all about how he wasn’t being found attractive as he considered this.

“Then why does nothing look animated?” Kyungsoo challenged. “This table looks real, not animated.”

“Do you think things look animated to people in animations? To them, it’s reality.”

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes, then shook his head, “Nope. Their reality is that things look animated, so if they came to our world, these surroundings would freak them out. You didn’t come from Canada. You came from an animated world, and you’re doing a very bad job of blending in.”

Taeyong laughed at this, and Kyungsoo smiled brighter, thinking he had a really nice laugh. It wasn’t loud like Jongdae’s or over the top like Jongin’s, and his face somehow got prettier when he did it.

“I think I like your theory better,” Taeyong then said to him, a big smile in place. “I do feel out of my element here. But I’ll blend in soon enough.”

“I hope not,” Kyungsoo said, “How boring would that be?”

Taeyong’s smile didn’t waver as he replied, “Good point.”

Kyungsoo tried to think of what he could say next to keep the conversation going.

“So, what do you do in your free time?” he thought to ask back. “When you’re not dancing.”

“Um,” Taeyong said, his eyes looking to the side and down, and then he looked back and said, “I haven’t had much downtime. For the past two years, I’ve devoted myself to learning how to dance, so I’ve lost interest in other things. You’ll have to help me out with that. Maybe I’ll start watching more movies.”

Kyungsoo didn’t know what to think about that offer. It sounded like he liked him and wanted to hang out with him more. Maybe as friends? Why were dates so weird?

“That’s a good way to unwind from a long day of dancing,” Kyungsoo assured him, but he latched onto the two years part. “Why the last two years? Like you chose to take it more seriously then?”

“No, I never danced before then,” Taeyong explained with a shy smile. “I’m not like Jongin, who apparently has been dancing since he could walk. I just fell into it two years ago.”

“How?” Kyungsoo asked, completely intrigued. “That’s so cool. I mean, I’ve never seen you dance, but if you’re dancing at Jongin’s studio, then you’re probably really good, so how did you just fall into it?”

“It’s a long story, but basically, I had a mentor in school who told me to try it out. So I did, and I was awful at it, but I liked it and wanted to get better. I don’t know,” Taeyong said, looking down for a moment, his fingers back on his empty cup. “Once I started doing it, it felt like something I needed to do for the rest of my life.”

“I’ve thought about this before,” Kyungsoo told him, understanding where he was coming from completely, and Taeyong looked back up at him. “I knew pretty early on in life that I wanted to be a performer of some kind, and the more activities my parents put me in, the more I gravitated toward acting. But if my parents had never introduced me to theater classes as a kid, I wouldn’t have known it was my talent that I should pursue.”

“Your parents put you in theater classes as a kid?” Taeyong asked, his eyebrows rising. “Are they stage parents?”

Kyungsoo chuckled at the question and shook his head so fast that his bangs shook from side to side as well. “Not at all. But I was shy and quiet as a kid, so they thought it might help me come out of my shell more. Like I said, my parents are overachievers, so they wanted to make sure I was prepared in every way to be the same.”

“That sounds like a lot of pressure,” Taeyong considered.

“It is,” Kyungsoo confirmed. “It still is. But now that I found my calling, I think if I’m successful at it, they’ll back off. That’s my hope anyway.”

“I hope so too,” Taeyong said with a nice smile. “For your sake.”

Kyungsoo smiled back at him, but then remembered his original train of thought, and decided to finish it.

“So, anyway, you know, Jongin always danced, and I did some hip-hop dance classes with him, but his real talent is like ballet and contemporary. I never saw him do an actual ballet recital until I was around 13 or so, and I remember throughout the entire recital, watching each and every person perform, I found it really… moving, I guess? I don’t know how to explain it, but I had never thought of ballet as something that I would really enjoy watching. And it made me think, what if ballet is your passion, and you don’t know because you’re never exposed to it, and then one day you’re 25, and you go to your first ballet performance, and it’s everything to you. And had you known back when you were younger, you would’ve pursued it, but since you’re older, you just… don’t.”

Taeyong blinked at him, several times to be exact, and Kyungsoo sheepishly lifted his cup to take a sip of his non-existent drink because he suddenly felt self-conscious.

“I’m so happy Jongin set us up on this date,” Taeyong then said.

“Really?” Kyungsoo said, surprised as he put his cup back down. “Even though I look like Totoro?”

“You don’t look like…” Taeyong let out a semi-annoyed breath. “Your eyes are just big. Anyway, I always thought Totoro was cute. I even had a Totoro stuffed animal growing up.”

Was he trying to say that he was cute? He bit his lip, then went ahead and asked, “So, you think I’m cute?”

Taeyong let out another breath and looked to the side, then back at him, “You obviously know you’re cute. Of course, I think you’re cute.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows and said, “I obviously don’t know that. Besides, you could have bad taste.”

Taeyong laughed at that, and Kyungsoo smiled, glad he took it as the joke it was intended to be.

“Okay, but the question is,” Taeyong then said, “do you think I’m cute?”

“I think you’re…” Kyungsoo wondered how honest he should be. He hoped he didn’t get offended by his answer. “…really pretty. Like, you stepped out of a dream or something.”

“An animated dream?” Taeyong smirked, and Kyungsoo really liked the way Taeyong flirted.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, with a little smirk of his own.

A moment passed between them and then Taeyong took the initiative to ask, “So, should we maybe go on a second date?”

Kyungsoo smiled. It felt nice to have met someone that thought he was cute and wanted to hang out again. It had been so long since anyone had liked him that he had forgotten the warm feeling that came with it. And Taeyong really was pretty, and their conversation had gone nicely, and he was interested in learning more about him, so he nodded and said, “Yeah.”

“Cool,” Taeyong said, his nice smile widening. “Since I’m new in town, you should pick the next place. What should I see or know about in LA?”

“Hm,” Kyungsoo said, thinking for a moment. “Well, have you done the touristy stuff yet? Like Hollywood and Santa Monica?”

“I drove to Santa Monica to check it out when I got here,” he said. “Haven’t done Hollywood. I heard it’s crowded with tourists and there’s nothing really to do.”

“You heard correctly,” Kyungsoo confirmed, “But I was thinking we should see a movie, and the Chinese Theater on Hollywood is a landmark and a really cool place to see one.”

“That sounds cool,” Taeyong nodded. “Maybe dinner before it? Dinner and a movie?”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo said, and then he had a thought as he remembered Jongin telling him about Lisa’s party and the subsequent invitation he had received from Jennie, which even with Jongin’s warning, had still surprised him. “Actually, I’m going to be in Hollywood this week. I’m going to a birthday dinner, and I just remembered that I get to bring someone. Do you know Lisa?”

Taeyong shook his head and looked at him unsure.

“She dances at the studio with you guys, so I thought you might know her,” Kyungsoo explained.

“Oh,” Taeyong said, “No, I haven’t met anyone named Lisa yet. I’ve only gotten to know a few people so far.”

“Well, if you want to come with me to her birthday dinner, you could meet her then, and then after, we can go see a movie at the Chinese Theater.”

“Sounds fun,” Taeyong said, but he still looked unsure. “You sure your friend won’t mind if I come to her dinner?”

“No, I get to bring a guest,” he assured him. “I’m honestly not even sure why I’m being invited. She’s Jongin’s friend, and she’s best friends with Jongin’s girlfriend. They keep inviting me to their things for some reason.”

“They must like hanging out with you,” Taeyong reasoned, but Kyungsoo shook his head.

“No, they just need people around them at all times. That’s the only explanation.”

Taeyong chuckled at him, which made Kyungsoo smile again, liking that Taeyong found him amusing.

With plans for their next date secure, they left the café and said goodbye to each other before walking to their respective cars.

***

As Kyungsoo drove back to his campus apartment, he thought about how nice the blind date had been and even felt excited about hanging out with Taeyong again, but that excitement couldn’t beat the excitement that Kyungsoo felt once he was home, eating delivered pizza, and on the edge of his seat as he watched Chanyeol score again.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae let out loud cheers, which under normal circumstances may have gotten them a bang on the wall from their neighbors, but since the whole school was watching, their loud cheers were joined by the ones coming from the other apartments.

He had made sure to send Chanyeol his selfie in his red hoodie before the game, and Chanyeol had replied with a big-smile emoticon, which had made Kyungsoo light up for some stupid reason. He knew there was no point in liking Chanyeol, but after the conversation with Baekhyun, he wondered if that was a temporary situation until Chanyeol figured himself out.

It wasn’t like Kyungsoo hadn’t been through this before. His first and only boyfriend, Yixing, swore he was straight, and even when Yixing had found out that Kyungsoo was gay, he still pretended to not be interested. But Kyungsoo had noticed the way Yixing would look at him when they’d hang out, and the way that he looked for reasons to be around him, and then one day out of nowhere, Yixing had made a move on him, proving Kyungsoo right.

Kyungsoo had a feeling that Chanyeol would be the same. At some point, he’d figure out that he liked him, and Kyungsoo had no issues waiting. Or at least he thought he had no issues waiting, but this date with Taeyong had turned out kind of alright.

When the second half of the game started, Kyungsoo lost all thoughts of Taeyong and his date, tuning back into the excitement on the television screen and watching the two teams battle each other to advance to the next round. The announcers had said the game was evenly matched after both teams had won in upsets against their opponents the previous round.

By the end of the third quarter, both teams were proving the announcers right, but then the fourth quarter was underway, and things started going a little bit wrong. It was a missed free throw here, and a missed open shot there, and as hard as they had been fighting, USC’s team started to look a bit tired. The other team did too, but they were keeping it together a bit better, and Kyungsoo’s stomach started to drop as the gap in the score widened.

“I can’t watch this,” Kyungsoo said at one point, hiding his eyes when the other team scored to widen their lead.

“Come on!” Jongdae said, on his feet and yelling at the screen. “You can do this. They just need a few three’s and they’re back in it.”

They did get a couple of more three-pointers, but by the time the buzzer rang, it was clear they hadn’t done enough.

Kyungsoo hugged a sofa pillow tight as he stared at the dejected team on the screen while the other team celebrated. When the camera showed Chanyeol on the bench, head in hands as his shoulders shook, Kyungsoo’s heart hurt for him. He wished he was there to tell him it was okay and that he had played great.

“Oh man,” Jongdae said, sitting on the couch again with a disappointed sigh, “They were so close.”

“I hate sports,” Kyungsoo said, not liking this feeling at all. Jongdae chuckled at him and pat his back, but Kyungsoo was serious. The emotional rollercoaster of this game had taken everything out of him, and he couldn’t help but feel really sad for Chanyeol. “I hope after this Chanyeol leaves basketball and just focuses on his music career.”

Jongdae snorted and said, “He’s an athlete. Things like this just motivate them to work harder so they can win next time.”

“Athletes are dumb,” Kyungsoo pouted. “They should just quit and make music instead.”

“Why are you being like this?” Jongdae said with his loud laugh. “Like you would quit acting if you lost out on a role.”

“That’s different. There’s always more roles to try out for. But there are only so many college championships you can win before you graduate.”

“Well, lucky for Chanyeol, he’s got two more years to try,” Jongdae reasoned.

Kyungsoo supposed that was true, but he wanted Chanyeol to win this year. He was supposed to have been his good luck charm, but in the end, he hadn’t been enough.

They turned off the TV and threw away the pizza box then headed to their respective rooms to go to bed. After Kyungsoo had brushed his teeth and changed into his boxers and T-shirt, he crawled into bed and got comfortable under his comforter then texted Chanyeol.

_You played great tonight. I know you guys will win next year for sure. You’re only going to get better._

He waited a bit for Chanyeol to respond, then realized that Chanyeol was probably too upset and wouldn’t be doing anything that night outside of mentally beating himself up.


	18. Chapter 18

The loss had stung, but more than the loss, it was the way they had lost that bothered Chanyeol the most. It wasn’t like them, like him particularly, to lose steam when it mattered most, but that’s exactly what had happened, and he was having a hard time getting past it.

So much so that as he stood on his dad’s putting green at the edge of their pool deck, he hit golf balls out into the ocean, letting the frustration of each missed basket flow through his arms to help him propel the balls even further.

“Well,” Jisoo said to Baekhyun, the two sitting beside each other on a lawn chair they had dragged over from the pool, “this is better than the time he built that big spaceship with Legos.”

“I kinda liked the spaceship,” Baekhyun replied.

“The spaceship was fine, but watching him build it was torture,” Jisoo explained. “At least with this, I have a nice view of the ocean.”

“Fair,” Baekhyun nodded. “You know, his swing has really improved. Maybe he can just join the golf team.”

“Don’t put that in the atmosphere,” Jisoo said, and Chanyeol could hear the smack on Baekhyun’s arm that had probably come from her. “It’s bad enough I suffer through basketball games.”

Chanyeol let out a large breath and held the golf club behind his neck with both hands, enjoying the feeling of his arm muscles stretching. It was a gloomy day, which wasn’t doing much for his mood, and both the sky and the ocean were gray.

Last year had been tough for him on the team, trying to earn his spot and prove that he deserved to be on the court as part of the starting lineup. This year he felt he had solidified that. Even though it was only his sophomore year and the veterans on the team had certainly pulled their weight and had their shining moments, Chanyeol knew that he was special. It wasn’t normal for a sophomore to be starting when there were seniors on the bench, and the idea that he hadn’t pulled through when he needed to at the last moment made him wonder if he’d end up swapped out with other more seasoned and experienced players next year.

“Yeol,” Baekhyun then said, breaking him out of his thoughts, “out of thousands of teams, you did what only like 20 other teams could. This was just the warm-up, and next year you’ll take it all the way. You gotta let this go.”

More like 32 other teams, but he got Baekhyun’s point, and he put the club down and turned to face his friends.

“I only get four chances at this,” Chanyeol told them. “I’m now down to two.”

“And you’ll win one of those,” Jisoo said.

“And even if you don’t,” Baekhyun added, “all that matters is that you show everyone why you deserve to win. You can’t control refs who’ve been paid off to call fouls on you guys every five seconds.”

“Those refs really did suck,” Jisoo agreed, and Chanyeol smiled at them both.

If only he could blame the refs for his crappy playing.

“Either way,” Jisoo said as she stood up, “the good news is that because you guys didn’t win, you can come to Lisa’s birthday dinner on Friday night.”

Chanyeol gave her a weird look and said, “I still don’t understand why I was invited. I thought it was supposed to just be her and her closest friends.”

“You’re a closest friend by extension,” Baekhyun said with a laugh. “I got sucked into this too.”

“It’ll be fun,” Jisoo told him, “And you need to bring a plus one.”

“Why?” Chanyeol said, “I don’t have a plus one. Is everyone bringing a plus one?”

“I’m her plus one,” Baekhyun said, pointing at Jisoo.

“Hey,” Jisoo said, looking at Baekhyun with a smile, “Maybe there’s a nice sorority girl on campus you can set him up with to be his date.”

“What?” Baekhyun asked, and Chanyeol felt his ears get a little warm.

“Don’t act like you don’t know any,” Jisoo chided him, “Be a good wingman and find him a date for the party.”

Chanyeol mentally thanked Jisoo for bringing it up for him and felt touched that she had taken their conversation to heart.

“You know sorority girls?” Chanyeol then asked Baekhyun, hoping he did and could help him with his task of getting a girlfriend now that his season was suddenly over.

“I mean, a few,” Baekhyun said, thinking with his index finger on his chin, “Hm, well, what kind of girls are you into?”

Now Chanyeol’s cheeks flushed warm, and the cool air from the ocean couldn’t seem to counteract that fast enough.

“I mean, you know,” Chanyeol shrugged. “Girls. Any girl is fine.”

“No, you have to be more selective than that,” Baekhyun said, pacing as he continued to think. “Okay, if you had to pick from Rosé, Jennie, Lisa, and Jisoo, which one would you be most into?”

“Choose wisely,” Jisoo said, giving Chanyeol a look that he hoped was her teasing him.

“Um,” Chanyeol stalled, thinking about each of the girls. Rosé was still in high school, and he didn’t think he’d ever really looked at her in that way. Not to mention, she was a bit of a wild child and he wasn’t into that. Jennie gave him little sister vibes for some reason, but she also seemed high maintenance, which he didn’t think he cared for. Lisa was cool, and maybe too cool, since Chanyeol couldn’t envision her ever being warm in a relationship, and since he also didn’t know how to be in a relationship, that seemed like a bad idea altogether. “I guess Jisoo,” he said. If nothing else, his mom had made it clear that she’d prefer he be with someone like Jisoo, so he guessed that he probably wanted that too since she knew him so well.

“Good choice,” Jisoo said with a smirk.

“Jisoo,” Baekhyun said, now tapping his finger to his chin as he kept pacing, “Okay, well, that cuts it down considerably.”

“What about that one girl that you thought had a crush on you but was just trying to interview you for her psych class?” Jisoo asked Baekhyun.

Chanyeol snorted, and Baekhyun grimaced and shook his head.

“No, we ended up hooking up anyway, and I’m sure Chanyeol doesn’t want sloppy seconds.”

“You’re so gross,” Jisoo said, making a face at him, but Baekhyun ignored her as he continued to think.

“Do you care if she’s Korean?” Baekhyun then asked him. “Can she be a different Asian? Or white or black or Latina?”

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol said, never having thought about it. In high school, most of the girls were white or Latina, and he thought a lot of them were pretty, but he’d had Jisoo in his life for longer than that, and to him, she had always been way prettier. “Probably Korean. Like Jisoo.”

“Alright, I’m down to one then,” Baekhyun said with a nod. “I’ll set you up with Nayeon.”

“Details please?” Jisoo said, sitting back down on the lawn chair to listen.

“Super pretty, super nice, super smart, down to earth,” Baekhyun listed off.

“What sorority?” Jisoo grilled, and Chanyeol was grateful that she knew what needed to be asked because he had no idea what else he needed to know since she sounded just fine based on Baekhyun’s list.

“Sigma Phi Omega,” Baekhyun said, and Jisoo’s nose scrunched in a way where Chanyeol knew she didn’t like the answer.

“What’s wrong with Sigma whatever?” Chanyeol asked.

“Nothing,” Baekhyun said, “They’re the hottest Asian sorority on campus. Like literally all the hot Asian girls are in that one. Jisoo’s just elitist because she rushed a non-Asian sorority and thinks it makes her better than everyone else.”

“Not better,” Jisoo defended, “But being in the best sorority means being in the best sorority overall, and that’s not the Asian one.”

“I guess when you don’t go to the best college, you have to aim for the best sorority instead,” Chanyeol said with a smirk, and Baekhyun hi-fived him while Jisoo told him “he wished.”

“Anyways,” Jisoo waved off, “as UCLA is consistently ranked over USC in every single list, our sororities are even higher regarded than yours. But if hot girl in Asian sorority is the best you got, then you should go for it.”

“You sound pressed,” Baekhyun said, and he cackled when Jisoo threw him another glare.

“Wait,” Chanyeol then said, thinking about Baekhyun’s previous comment, “You haven’t hooked up with her, right?”

“Nayeon? No, not my type.”

“Wait,” Chanyeol said, now looking between Baekhyun and Jisoo confused, “But, you hook up with Jisoo.”

“She’s not my type either,” Baekhyun joked.

“Baekhyun’s type is his hand,” Jisoo said, and Baekhyun made a hissing sound, and then laughed.

“Okay… so… will you introduce us?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun, feeling tentative and suddenly very nervous about this. But he had made a goal of having a girlfriend post-season, so he was going to give this his full effort, even if he was scared about it.

“Yeah, I’ll text her so the three of us can meet up for lunch or coffee tomorrow,” Baekhyun told him, taking out his phone to do so.

Now Chanyeol felt really nervous, which must have shown on his face because Jisoo told him to relax.

“You have nothing to be worried about,” she told him, “You’re the star basketball player on campus. You’re tall, nice, and good looking. She’s going to like you.”

“Unless I’m not her type,” Chanyeol pointed out since that appeared to be a thing.

“You’ll be her type,” Baekhyun said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Sigmas like clout. You’ll give her clout.”

“Very true,” Jisoo agreed. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. And fun.”

Chanyeol wanted to believe his friends, so he nodded and gave a smile. If nothing else, he was very grateful that this had successfully distracted him from how horrible he felt about the loss.

***

The next day when he headed to Tudor to meet Nayeon for the first time, he felt super nervous and like maybe this wasn’t all worth it. Did he really need a girlfriend? He had to admit that it had been nice to finally have a conversation about dating with his friends, and it was nice the way that Baekhyun and Jisoo sprang into action like they had just been waiting for him to join them in talking about these sorts of things.

He found Baekhyun already sitting at a table with a girl sitting across from him and noticed they both already had coffees in front of them. He took a deep breath and went to the line to order his coffee, waving at Baekhyun who spotted him and smiled with a wave. Nayeon looked over as well with a smile, and then she said something to Baekhyun, which put them back into conversation. Chanyeol took another deep breath and thought that she seemed both nice and pretty, just as Baekhyun had said.

Once his coffee was in his hand, he joined them, sitting beside Baekhyun.

“Hey,” Baekhyun greeted him. “We were just talking about crashing birthdays etiquette.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, giving him an amused expression, and looking over at Nayeon who had chuckled. She seemed to look really young, and Chanyeol wondered if she was a freshman like Baekhyun. Her features were soft, and her big cheeks were prominent on her otherwise slim oval face.

“This is Nayeon,” Baekhyun introduced, “And I was filling her in on how you needed a date to a party that you didn’t even know why you were invited to. This is Chanyeol,” he then said to her, and Chanyeol may have blushed, thinking they were going to ease into this and not make it seem like he was desperate.

“I’m so happy to meet you,” Nayeon said, giving him a pretty smile that was wide and showed a bit of her gums on top. It reminded him of Kyungsoo’s smile in a way, and he smiled back even wider.

“I’m happy to meet you too,” he said to her, nodding to make it clear that he meant it.

“You were amazing all season,” she then told him. “My friends and I watched all the games.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, surprised, but loving every bit of the compliment. “Thank you. Next year we’re going to win the championship.”

“I know you are,” she nodded. “I was screaming at the refs in the last game. You guys should sue them.”

Chanyeol chuckled, but he wanted to ask her about her instead, only he couldn’t think of how to switch the subject. Lucky for him, Baekhyun was a master at this.

“Chanyeol, did I mention that Nayeon is also a sophomore? She’s one of yours.”

“Oh cool,” Chanyeol said, “What’s your major?”

“Journalism. What’s yours?”

“Music,” he said, and she seemed to approve of this with a nod. “Journalism is really cool. Do you want to be a news anchor or like a newspaper reporter?”

“I want to be an investigative journalist,” she said, which was even cooler than Chanyeol had expected. “Like Lisa Ling,” she then added, and Chanyeol nodded, pretending to know who that was.

“She used to go here,” Baekhyun said. Of course, Baekhyun knew who she was, and Chanyeol made a mental note to look her up so he could know too.

“I know,” Nayeon said, brightening up at the fact. “She dropped out before she graduated though because she had already found success as a reporter and wanted to travel the world instead. I’m planning on doing a semester abroad before I graduate, so I’ll see if I follow in her exact footsteps.”

“I’m following in her footsteps,” Baekhyun said, “I’m hoping to be on my first world tour by junior year.”

“As long as you come back for the championship that I’m going to win us that year,” Chanyeol teased him.

“I’m scheduling my entire world tour around your basketball schedule,” Baekhyun teased back.

Nayeon laughed at them then asked Chanyeol, “Are you going to be a musician too?”

“My plan is to be in the NBA and put out albums on the side,” Chanyeol told her, and Nayeon thought that was pretty funny, though maybe not in a way where she believed him.

He found that she laughed at him a lot as they spoke, so at the very least, he supposed she found him amusing. They talked about where they had grown up, and Nayeon mentioned that she was from Michigan and that both of her parents were professors.

“Your GPA must be impressive,” he said, and she humbly said that she was doing pretty well so far.

In fact, everything she said confirmed Baekhyun’s initial points about her. She was without a doubt super smart, and super nice, and super down to earth, and yes, Chanyeol could admit that she was super pretty as well, though more in a girl-next-door way and less in the hot way he had expected after Baekhyun had mentioned that her sorority had all the hot Asian girls.

After they had gotten a chance to get to know each other a little better, Baekhyun then asked her, “So, are you in?”

“Huh?” she asked, and then said, “Oh, the dinner. Yeah, if you want me to be your date.” She looked at Chanyeol hopeful.

“Yeah, that would be great,” he said. “Thank you so much.”

“Thank you for thinking of me,” she said to both of them. “It sounds like it’s going to be a fun time. And the idea of meeting Jennie Kim in person is just icing on the cake.”

“You want to meet her in person?” Chanyeol asked confused. “Why?”

Baekhyun snorted and took the lid off his cup so that he could eat some of the ice at the bottom of what had been his iced coffee.

“Nayeon’s a fan,” Baekhyun explained.

“I’m not a fan like that,” Nayeon said, “But she is one of my favorite influencers. Her sense of style is incredible, and her beauty recommendations are great. I don’t know what I did before she introduced me to the face masks that I use now.”

“I see,” Chanyeol said, narrowing his eyes at her, “So even if we didn’t get along, you were going to be my date anyway so you could meet her.” He meant it in a teasing way, but her eyes widened as she shook her head.

“No, I really wanted to meet you too,” Nayeon said, “I really did watch all your games.”

“I’m just kidding,” Chanyeol said, relaxing his face a little to show he was joking.

“Oh,” she said, chuckling self-consciously as she pushed strands of her black hair behind her ear.

Baekhyun looked amused by all this and finished the ice in his cup after loudly shaking it so it could unstick from the bottom.

“So, I guess I should pick you up that night,” Chanyeol then thought to say to her. “Oh, wait, let me get your number.”

They exchanged numbers and Nayeon told him which undergrad apartment building she lived in, which he added to her contact information. And once that was done, the three of them got up, having to head their separate ways toward their next classes.

Since Baekhyun and Chanyeol were both headed to the music building, Baekhyun took that opportunity to try and feel Chanyeol out, which Chanyeol had anticipated.

“So, do you like her?” Baekhyun asked him, and Chanyeol nodded.

“She seems exactly like you said. Nice, smart, pretty.”

“Told you,” Baekhyun said, and his face looked very smug and proud. “Aside from her weird hero-worshipping of Jennie, she is pretty ideal.”

“Did you know about that before you invited her?”

“No, but it was inevitable. I imagine they have Jennie’s face up at Asian sorority houses across the country.”

“That’s just weird,” Chanyeol said, shaking his head.

“No, I’m serious,” Baekhyun said. “Jisoo told me how her sorority passed out a handbook during spring rush to all the members with rules and regulations, including how their hair should look, how to wear their makeup, and what they should wear. All the hair examples were from blonde actresses and models. I asked Jisoo if she was dying her hair blonde, and she smacked me with the handbook.”

Baekhyun laughed about this to himself, but Chanyeol looked at him in horror.

“So, I imagine,” Baekhyun continued, “that in an Asian sorority, Jennie would be an example of how their hair should look and so on.”

“Why do these girls join sororities again?” Chanyeol asked, not even understanding what the point of them was.

“They all have their reasons,” Baekhyun shrugged. “Jisoo’s doing it for the connections since she wants to go into corporate law. Jennie joined hers because her mother told her to. Nayeon probably joined to make sure she made the right friends since she moved here from another state. You could ask her on your date.”

“It’s not really a date,” Chanyeol then said. “It’s more like she’s doing me a favor, but maybe after that, we could go on a date.”

“Exactly,” Baekhyun said, patting him on the back before veering away from him to head toward the music building his next class was in. “You’ve got this. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun.”

Chanyeol waved bye to him and headed to the other music building, thinking that maybe he did have this and that maybe it would be fun.


	19. Chapter 19

Jongin had arrived early to meet Jennie at the restaurant for Lisa’s birthday, helping her with some last-minute details as she made sure everything was set up perfectly for the night. He had to admit that his own event planning skills had improved since dating her, and he now found himself sharing tips with his sisters on things that could help them with the café or the restaurant.

He finished taping the birthday balloons that spelled out Lisa’s name to the wall and stood back to make sure they were aligned properly.

“Close enough,” Jennie said, wrapping her arms around his waist and sneaking a kiss onto his cheek from behind.

He turned around to give her a quick kiss on the lips, taking in how nice her hair looked for the evening. She had her personal hairstylist give her waves, and Jongin thought they looked sexy on her and made sure to tell her so, knowing that she lived for the validation. As expected, he was rewarded for the compliment with another kiss.

But the night wasn’t about Jennie, and Jongin shifted focus. He confirmed with the staff which appetizers needed to be brought out based upon Lisa’s tastes. It said a lot about Jennie, who had known Lisa longer than him, that she let him take the lead on it knowing that he would influence the decision with his own tastes less than she would.

Jisoo and Baekhyun arrived first, which livened up the mood instantly. Baekhyun’s loud voice boomed through their private space as he greeted them, and Jisoo helped Jennie get the playlist going over the speakers in their private room.

“How goes it?” Baekhyun asked Jongin, giving him a quick hug.

“It goes,” Jongin told him, “Appetizers should be coming out soon.”

“Good, I’m starving,” Baekhyun said, patting his stomach, “Also, you look great. I like this two-buttons-undone look on you.”

Jongin chuckled and thanked him, then returned the compliment. “I like this dressed-up look on you as well.”

“I have a separate section of my closet for Jennie-event emergencies,” Baekhyun joked, and Jongin laughed out loud, knowing too well that his own closet had changed drastically since he had started dating Jennie.

Rosé and Sehun were next to arrive, and by then, the staff had placed ceviche, oysters, and poke wonton tacos on the small tables of the lounge area where the guests were expected to socialize before they moved to the main table for dinner.

“How’s it going, man?” Jongin said as he exchanged a hug with Sehun.

“It’s going well,” Sehun said, and Jongin smiled, always endeared by Sehun’s politeness. “I’m hoping to get my college acceptance letter soon. I’m getting worried because other people have started getting theirs and I haven’t gotten any yet.”

“I’m sure they’re on their way,” Jongin assured him with a supportive smile, “And if you don’t get any, it just means you were meant to join me and Lisa at the studio and become a professional dancer.”

Sehun’s eyes crinkled at the thought of this, and he said, “I wish I was that good. But I’m going to keep working on it. Even in college, I plan to join the dance team.”

“Good,” Jongin said, and he noticed that Kyungsoo had arrived with Taeyong. He smiled at the sight of them together, thinking they looked cute together. When Kyungsoo had told him and Jongdae how the date had gone, Jongin had felt hopeful, and seeing that Kyungsoo really had invited Taeyong as his date made him even more so.

“Who’s that?” Sehun asked, also staring at the blue-haired boy that had walked in and inevitably captured the guests’ attention.

“Taeyong,” Jongin answered, “He’s an incredible dancer who just started at the studio not too long ago. You should stop by and check him out.”

Sehun nodded, almost looking mesmerized, and Jongin didn’t blame him. Taeyong certainly made a statement with his appearance.

They headed over to meet them and were intercepted by Rosé who showed off a drink to Sehun that she claimed they named after her.

“It’s called Beautiful Elixir,” she said, “I might permanently change my name to that.”

“How is that named after you?” Jongin teased her, and Rosé scrunched her nose at him.

“It’s made with rosé and gin, so I was the inspiration,” she told him anyway, then held it up to Sehun. “Want to try it?”

“I’m good,” he said, and she shrugged and took a sip, then sat down next to Jisoo who was focused on eating the poke tacos instead.

Kyungsoo, who had observed the whole scenario as he moved to stand by them, snorted and said, “I see she’s off to a good start.”

“She’s exhausting,” Sehun said.

“But you still chose to be her date for the evening,” Jongin pointed out.

“I feel like someone has to look out for,” Sehun shrugged, and then he looked at Taeyong, taking him in again, which reminded Jongin that he needed to introduce them.

He made the introductions, mentioning to Taeyong that Sehun was a fellow dancer.

“Not in the same way,” Sehun said, humbly and looking a bit shy. “I just dance on my high school dance team.”

“Oh, you’re in high school?” Taeyong said surprised. “I thought you were older.”

“I get that a lot,” Sehun said, looking even more shy as he smiled, and Jongin thought it was kind of funny.

But then his attitude shifted as he noticed Chanyeol walk in with a girl, and Jongin glanced at Kyungsoo, who had also just noticed and seemed confused.

“Who’s that?” Kyungsoo asked Jongin as he stood next to him.

“I have no idea,” Jongin answered truthfully. Jennie hadn’t mentioned who Chanyeol’s plus one would be, and part of him had hoped he just didn’t show up at all.

Chanyeol looked around and spotted Kyungsoo. Jongin noticed how Chanyeol brightened up when he saw him and waved. Not surprisingly, Kyungsoo waved back also looking thrilled to see him. Chanyeol walked over to them with the girl, and Jongin couldn’t wait to see how this played out. He was kind of sad that Jongdae was missing this exchange.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said when he got to them, but he was only looking at Kyungsoo, which was amazing considering his brother was standing right there next to Jongin.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo said back as if he was by himself and this was a two-person conversation.

“Oh, this is my date Nayeon,” Chanyeol then said, noticing everyone all of a sudden, “These are my friends, Kyungsoo and Jongin. And that’s my little brother Sehun who shouldn’t be here.”

“Maybe you’re the one who shouldn’t be here,” Sehun pointed out.

Jongin wanted to agree, but he just kept smiling, pretending he was perfectly fine with this situation. Then Chanyeol looked at Taeyong and it took Kyungsoo a moment to realize that he needed to introduce him too.

“Oh, this is my date,” he said, mimicking Chanyeol’s introduction, “Taeyong.”

“Oh, your date?” Chanyeol said, blinking and looking at Taeyong again, needing to suddenly assess the guy.

Jongin almost laughed out loud. Luckily, Jongdae and Lisa chose that moment to make their entrance, distracting everyone enough from this awkward moment. As people took turns to hug Lisa and wish her a happy birthday, Jongdae headed to Jongin.

“Hey, have I missed anything?”

“Have you ever,” Jongin said, snorting. “Chanyeol brought a date, Kyungsoo brought a date, and they’re both trying to act like they’re totally cool with it.”

“This is amazing,” Jongdae said, looking toward the players involved with a big smile on his face. “Who is Chanyeol’s date?”

“No clue. Some girl named Nayeon.”

“Huh,” Jongdae said, “Well, let me get a drink and settle in for this drama.”

Jongin accompanied him to the bar where they decided to each try a different signature cocktail, and then Jongin took his turn to give Lisa his best wishes.

“Happy birthday,” he told her, giving her a big hug.

“Thank yoooou,” she said, squeezing him back, her smile wide.

“You look great,” he mentioned, not used to seeing Lisa in a short dress, but thinking she should wear them more often since they showed off her long legs.

“Thanks, Jennie took me to about 30 stores to find the right dress for the night,” she said with a roll of her eyes, and Jongin laughed.

“Well, hopefully my birthday present to you tonight helps you out here,” he said, pointing to the table where her gifts had been dropped off by everyone.

“Is it something I could use right now?” She eyed the table with narrow eyes. “Should I open it now?”

“I don’t know if Jennie will let you,” Jongin teased, and Lisa sighed.

“Is that the new guy from our studio?” she then asked, nodding toward Taeyong who now sat beside Kyungsoo and Jongdae, talking with Jongdae as Kyungsoo tried to not be obvious about glancing toward Chanyeol who was talking to Jisoo while Baekhyun spoke with Nayeon.

“Yeah, his name is Taeyong, and I set him up on a date with Kyungsoo, who then brought him as his plus one,” Jongin said proudly. He scanned the room to see Jennie over by the bar with Rosé and Sehun, laughing at something the bartender said as he made them new drinks.

“Oh, wow,” Lisa said, looking at them with interest again.

“Come on, let’s get your drink,” he told her, leading her to the bar, where he had noticed the bartender was being quite flirty with Jennie.

He wasn’t the jealous boyfriend type, but it didn’t stop him from sliding his arm around Jennie’s waist and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before asking her, “Are you trying Rosé’s elixir drink?”

“Yes,” Jennie said with a chuckle. “She’s making me.”

“It’s my drink,” Rosé announced again like he hadn’t heard her say this the first time. “We have to give the birthday girl one,” she then said to the bartender, who nodded at her and made another after giving Jennie hers, this time not flirting.

“The birthday girl should have her own drink too,” Jongin pointed out.

“She can have whatever she wants,” Jennie said, leaving Jongin’s side to hold onto Lisa around the waist instead, cuddling into her in such a cute way that Jongin had to get his phone out quick to take a picture.

“What kind of drink do you like?” the bartender asked Lisa with a smile.

“I don’t like anything too sweet,” she told him, and he told her that he had the perfect drink for her as he grabbed a bottle of vodka.

Once the birthday girl had her drink in her hand, they headed to the small lounge tables where everyone could hang out and take selfies before they got too drunk to remember to take them. As often happened, the girls had somehow gathered together, so Jongin sat with the boys, right next to Jongdae. He noticed that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol kept taking glances at each other while Baekhyun told some funny story that had everyone else captivated.

“So, you’re all in college together?” Taeyong then asked once Baekhyun was done, “Except you,” he then said pointing to Sehun.

“We are,” Kyungsoo said pointing to the four Trojans. “Jongin skipped school to be a professional dancer.”

“You guys make it sound fun,” Taeyong said, and Jongdae cackled in a way that made Baekhyun laugh along too.

“Whatever,” Kyungsoo said, kicking at Jongdae’s leg, “You’re the one having the most fun, painting your classmates’ boobs and stuff.”

“What?” Taeyong said, and Jongin cracked up.

“College is wild,” Sehun said.

“Just wait for it,” Chanyeol told his little brother. “They don’t prepare you for the realities of college life.”

“I think this is wild,” Taeyong said, looking around and back at them. “Are they really not going to card us?”

“You’re fine,” Jongin assured him. “My girlfriend took care of all the details. Just relax and have a good time.”

“It’s how we roll,” Baekhyun said. “Speaking of, is the birthday girl starving yet? Because I think I ate the last oyster.”

Jongin was ready for the main course himself, and he got up to ask Lisa if she was ready for dinner. Thankfully, Lisa was, and the party moved to the large wooden table for 12 that had been set up for them right on the border of the lounge and the outdoor balcony.

Jennie insisted that Lisa sit in the middle, and somehow, they all figured out the logistics of where to sit based on that. Jongin sat beside Jennie, who wanted to be directly across from Lisa, of course, which landed him across from Jongdae, but unfortunately next to Chanyeol, who, also, of course, had wanted to sit across from Kyungsoo.

Jongin looked over the menu, even though he already knew what he wanted, and listened as Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo what he was going to order. He gave Jongdae a look, which Jongdae read, causing them both to snicker into their menus.

After they finished ordering, Jennie raised her champagne glass for a toast, and she looked at Lisa and said, “To Lisa, who is just as an amazing friend as she is a dancer. I know this year is going to be your year, and you’re going to get so many jobs that we’ll hardly see you anymore, but we’ll still love you and be cheering you on. Happy birthday.”

Lisa said “aww” to her speech, and then seemed to blush when everyone wished her happy birthday as well. Jongin drank his champagne in one go and chased it with a long sip of water to get rid of the taste.

“So speaking of jobs,” Baekhyun said, looking down the table at Kyungsoo, “Have you heard back about your role yet?”

“Not yet,” Kyungsoo said, and he sighed, just as dramatically as an actor would.

“How did the callback go?” Jennie asked him.

“I thought it went well, but since I haven’t heard from them, I’m now wondering if it’s because they don’t know how to say my name and are scared to call.”

They all laughed at that, knowing that it was a pain point for most everyone at the table.

“No, seriously,” Kyungsoo said, not laughing as he explained. “When I was in line for the first audition, this guy started talking to me about how he uses a stage name. But it was dumb because he had a perfectly fine Korean name, then changed it to Suho, which I think is just another Korean name.”

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jisoo agreed.

“Whatever, Jessica,” Baekhyun teased her, and Jisoo threatened to hit him.

“Wait, is that your English name?” Jongdae asked her. “What’s everyone’s English name? And do you actually use it for anything?”

“Yes, that’s my English name,” Jisoo confirmed, “And I use it at school and will use it professionally once I’m a lawyer.”

“So your sorority sisters call you Jessica?” Baekhyun asked, purposely annoying her more. “Do they call you Jessie for short?”

“They call me Jess for short,” Jisoo answered, “What do your friends call you for short, Bryan?”

“No, shut up,” Jongdae said breaking into a full laugh, “Your name is Bryan?”

“It is,” Baekhyun said, laughing along, “With a ‘y’ because my mom thought it looked cooler that way. If I’m not with my closest friends or family, then I use Bryan because it’s easier for people.”

“Same,” Jongdae said, “When we moved here, my parents gave me the name Matthew, but they kept calling me Jongdae, so I never got used to using it. All my mail from ‘SC is addressed to Matthew Kim, and I forget it’s for me.”

“My parents never formally changed my name,” Chanyeol said. “They just let me be Chanyeol, and all the kids in school just called me Chan.”

“I was born here, and my parents still gave me a Korean name,” Sehun added. “So I’m just Sehun.”

“I was born in New Zealand,” Rosé then answered, “And my parents originally did the same to me and gave me a Korean name, Jaeyoung. But when we moved to the U.S., they changed it legally to Roseanne, but I hated that name so much that I made everyone call me Rosé instead. Now that I’m 18, I’m legally changing it to Rosé.”

“I thought you were changing it to Beautiful Elixir,” Jongin joked.

“I might,” Rosé said with a laugh.

“I’ve always been Jennie,” Jennie said with a shrug. “My Korean name was Jeni, so it worked for both.”

“You got lucky,” Jongdae pointed out, and Jennie nodded at him in agreement.

“I was born Pranpriya,” Lisa said when it was her turn, “and when we moved to the U.S. from Thailand, my parents asked me what name I wanted. I picked Lisa, but then my mom said that I should make it Lalisa because it meant “one who receives praises” or something like that in Thai. So that’s what I changed it to. But I go by my nickname Lisa because what even is Lalisa?”

Jongin laughed along with everyone else, but then Jongdae said that he liked Lalisa and was going to call her that from now on, which Lisa didn’t seem to mind based on the sweet smile she gave him.

“What about you, Kyungsoo?” Jennie asked him, and Jongin was already chuckling, knowing how much Kyungsoo hated his American name.

“Kevin,” he said, looking put out by even having to say it.

“Kev!” Baekhyun said, “What’s up, Kev?”

“Kyungsoo hates his name,” Jongdae let everyone know, even though he too was laughing at Kyungsoo’s expense.

“I don’t use it,” Kyungsoo let them know, “and I will never use it. Which is what I told the guy in line.”

“Kevin Doh has a nice ring to it,” Chanyeol said, and Jongin almost rolled his eyes.

“What about you, Taeyong?” Lisa asked, looking over at him as he sat by Kyungsoo and looked amused by everything.

“I don’t have one either,” Taeyong replied. “My parents had always meant to send me back to Korea at some point, but I ruined their plans.”

“Well done,” Kyungsoo told him with a look that let Taeyong know he liked the answer a lot, and Taeyong looked at him with a look that let Kyungsoo know that he was happy he liked his answer.

Jongin glance at Chanyeol, who watched this as well.

“And you, Nayeon?” Lisa then asked the girl that was sitting beside Chanyeol, even though Jongin was pretty sure that Chanyeol didn’t remember she was sitting there or that he had brought her in the first place.

“My parents told me I could decide when I turned 18,” she answered, “But I haven’t decided yet. I want to be a journalist so I’m waiting for the right name to hit me that will be perfect for my career.”

“Oh, nice,” Jisoo said in approval. “What’s your last name again?”

“Im,” Nayeon answered.

“How about Son,” Baekhyun said, and they all knew where he was going to go with this joke before he could even finish it. “And your middle name could be Saeng.”

“You’re so annoying,” Jisoo said, shoving him away from her as he cackled. “I need to trade seats. Or someone else come sit in his place.”

“She wants to be a journalist, Bryan,” Rosé then said, “Not a teacher.”

“Whatever, Roseanne,” Baekhyun teased back.

“I know what Jongin’s name is,” Jennie then said, smiling as she moved the attention to him.

“Mine’s boring,” Jongin waved off. “It’s Jon.”

“You are so not a Jon,” Lisa said, surprised that it would be his name.

“I know, that’s why I never use it,” Jongin agreed, “But I do let it be a nickname, so I’ll introduce myself to people as Jongin and say they can call me Jon.”

“Have you considered getting a stage name?” Taeyong asked him.

“I’ve been playing around with a few,” Jongin nodded. “Not because I want to change my name, but I think it could set me apart in the dance world if I had a cool name.”

“I could see that,” Taeyong said, nodding with a smile of support at the idea.

By the time they were done discussing their English names and possible stage and journalism names, the food arrived, and they were all served at the same time by a team of six servers.

While Jennie photographed her salmon to share on her social media later, Jongin wasted no time cutting into his ribeye steak, and the table fell silent as everyone savored their meals, compliments soon following.

“This is the best lamb chop I’ve ever had,” Baekhyun said, and then he told Jisoo to try it as he cut her a piece. Jisoo gave him a piece of her rib eye in return.

“How’s your spinach fettuccine?” Jisoo asked Rosé.

“Really good,” Rosé said, also pushing her plate over so Jisoo could get some.

Conversation remained light and fun while they ate, and once they were done, the servers brought out a birthday cake for Lisa, singing “Happy Birthday” to her as they set it down in front of her. Jennie recorded the whole thing, including Lisa closing her eyes to make her wish, and then blowing her candles out.

Most everyone took a turn photographing the custom-made cake, which had the restaurant’s logo and “Happy birthday, Lisa” on it before Lisa did the honors of cutting into it. Jongdae helped her plate the slices and pass them out.

The presents were then brought to the table so that Lisa could open them, and she decided to start with the largest one, which was Jongin’s.

Lisa pretended to not be able to pick it up and said, “What is this?”

“Just open it,” Jongin said with a grin.

She untied the bow first and then ripped it open, seeing the familiar insignia on the box and gasping. She quickly pulled out the baby blue Air Jordans he had gotten her.

“Oh my God, I’m in love,” she said, hugging them to her chest.

“I need to return my gift then,” Jongdae joked.

“Those are so cool,” Chanyeol said, and it was the most interested he had been in something other than Kyungsoo the whole night.

“I’m going to live in these,” she said, and she looked at him gratefully and said, “Thank you.”

“You deserve,” Jongin told her. “Happy birthday.”

It was interesting to see what other people got her, from the Tiffany’s bracelet that Jennie insisted was made for her to the designer denim jacket that Jisoo told her she knew she would rock, the gifts were all of the highest quality up until it was time to open Kyungsoo’s gift.

“It’s the best gift you’re going to get today,” Kyungsoo told her. “It’s going to put Air Jordan and Tiffany’s to shame.”

Jongin didn’t know why he was already snickering, but the fact that Jongdae was too made Lisa say, “Oh oh, why am I scared?”

She unwrapped the box, which was just a plain, brown Amazon box, and then she opened it and started laughing.

“What is it?” everyone at the table asked almost simultaneously, and Lisa pulled out a DVD box.

“It’s the entire _Step Up_ collection,” she said, barely able to breathe.

Jongdae almost fell out of his chair.

“Wait,” Jongin said, surprised. “That’s the best gift ever.”

“I told you,” Kyungsoo said, looking very proud of himself.

“ _Step Up 2_ was the best one,” Baekhyun said.

“Is that the street one?” Sehun said. “ _Step Up: The Streets_?”

Jongin and Baekhyun both confirmed at the same time with a “Yes.”

“I’m having a marathon,” Lisa said, looking at Kyungsoo, “Thank you.”

Nayeon and Taeyong both gave Lisa gift cards, the first to Ulta, the second to Amazon, and Lisa looked at them humbled that they had brought her anything when they didn’t know her. She opened the rest of her presents, leaving Jongdae’s for last, and when she finally got to it, Jongdae looked nervous.

“I don’t think I can beat Air Jordans or the _Step Up_ DVD set,” he said, scratching the back of his neck as she took the paper off.

Lisa said nothing, but the look on her face was one of eagerness, and when she took off the top of the box and pushed aside the white tissue paper, she lit up.

“What? I love it,” she said, as she pulled out a pink Burberry beanie.

“I figured you liked wearing beanies when you dance,” Jongdae explained, and Lisa turned to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips, which seemed to make all his doubts disappear.

“Oh my God, it’s so cute,” Jennie cooed, also pleased with the present.

“I’m about to rock this with my Jordans,” she said, and she went ahead and put it on. Lisa then turned toward Jongdae and said, “How do I look?”

“Perfect,” he said, putting his phone up to take a picture of her. “I’m going to send this picture to Burberry so they hire you to model all their beanies.”

Lisa laughed and gave him another kiss, and Jongin traded a look with Kyungsoo, both of them knowing that Jongdae was for sure getting thanked for it later that night.

With presents and cake done, everyone retired to different parts of the lounge and balcony to relax and hang out while more drinks were had. Lisa had switched into her Jordans as well because she was tired of being in her heels, and Jongin took a picture of her sitting in one of the large balcony chairs where she relaxed with her soda. She gave him a peace sign and a cute smile, and Jongin gave her a thumbs up and sat next to her to show it to her.

“So, Jennie did good?” Jongin asked her.

“Of course she did,” Lisa said, resigned to the fact that she had to give her best friend credit once again. “It was the right amount of people after all.”

“Yeah, not a bad group of people,” Jongin said, looking at everyone as they sat and talked or danced a little to the music playing while drinking. “Jongdae once told me that you setting Jennie and I up on a date created a butterfly effect that brought us all together.”

“So I’m the catalyst?” Lisa said with a big smile, “It’s crazy to think about though. I’m glad my instincts were right. You have been really great for Jennie, and I think she’s been really good for you too.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jongin said coyly, and Lisa gave him a fond smile.

“Hey, hey,” Jongdae said, as he did a shoulder dance over to them. He carried his drink in one hand and a plate of fries in the other. “No hitting on the birthday girl.”

“She’s wearing my gift too,” Jongin pointed out, “We’re sharing.”

“Yeah, but who’s bringing her a post-birthday-cake plate of fries? Scoot,” Jongdae said as he nestled in between them, making Lisa laugh and forcing Jongin to have to scoot over.

“Fries!” Lisa said, taking the plate and thanking him as she attacked them.

“You and your love of fries,” Jongin teased her.

“What the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets,” Jongdae stated.

Kyungsoo came over, taking a picture of the three of them on his phone and then sitting on Jongin’s lap. “Taeyong and I are heading out soon. We’re catching a late showing at the Chinese Theater tonight.”

“So this is officially the second date then,” Jongdae said, patting Kyungsoo’s knee.

“Make him buy the popcorn,” Jongin teased, and Kyungsoo snorted.

“I think we’re both too full to even consider buying food there,” Kyungsoo said, and then he looked at Lisa, “Thanks for inviting me to your party. Happy birthday.”

“Thank you for coming and giving me the best DVD box set in the history of box sets,” she said, handing Jongdae her plate of fries so she could stand up and give Kyungsoo a goodbye hug.

Taeyong came over to say goodbye as well, and then he and Kyungsoo headed out, saying goodbye to everyone they passed along the way.

“They’re cute together,” Lisa said.

“Yeah, they are,” Jongdae agreed.

“I really really really hope it works out,” Jongin said, looking around for Chanyeol and spotting him talking with Nayeon, Jisoo, and Baekhyun.

Then he wondered where his girlfriend had disappeared to and noticed that Rosé and Sehun weren’t around either. He checked his phone to make sure there weren’t any missed messages, then texted her to ask if everything was alright.

She didn’t reply, and Jongin turned his attention back to talking with Jongdae for a bit before they were joined by Sehun.

“Hey,” Jongin said, “Were you with Jennie and Rosé?”

“No, I went to the bathroom,” he said, moving over one of the chairs to face them better. “They went outside for a smoke and to talk about something.”

“So, are you and Rosé a thing now?” Jongdae asked him, and Sehun looked confused by this and shook his head.

“We’re really just friends,” Sehun told them. “Why doesn’t anyone believe us?”

“Because boys and girls can’t be friends without everyone assuming they’re sleeping together,” Lisa pointed out.

“Which is weird,” Jongin added, “Because I have a lot of friends that are girls that I don’t sleep with.”

“It’s because you grew up with two sisters,” Jongdae pointed out. “You can hang out with girls and be normal. Most guys can’t.”

“I don’t have sisters,” Sehun mentioned.

“Wait,” Lisa said, zeroing in on what Jongdae said, “So you don’t make friends with girls unless you want to sleep with them?”

“No, I didn’t say that,” Jongdae backpedaled.

“You totally said that,” Jongin said, not helping him out as he chuckled.

“I said ‘most guys,’ not all guys. Sehun and I are not like most guys.”

“Hm,” Lisa said, and she eyed him then smiled, either choosing to believe him or having been teasing him all along.

Sehun seemed amused by this, but nodded and said, “It’s weird that people would think that for us though because we don’t do anything that seems like we’re together. We don’t even hold hands or anything.”

“People are dumb,” Jongdae waved off.

“You’re the one that asked in the first place, dumbass,” Jongin said, bumping his leg against his.

“It was wishful thinking,” Jongdae defended with a whine, “I just think Sehun is a nice young man, and I feel Rosé should be with someone like that.”

“Rosé is fine,” Lisa waved off. “She’s just not good at conforming to society’s standards, and by society, I mean her parents. So, she goes a little crazy sometimes, but she’s got it all under control.”

“I don’t think she has it all under control,” Sehun mentioned. “Maybe she did at some point, but I wouldn’t call whatever she’s doing now ‘under control’.”

Jongin looked at Lisa who seemed to consider this, and then she said, “Maybe. I know she’s been stressed about the college thing with her parents pushing her to go even though she doesn’t want to. I’m sure you could steer her in the right direction with that.”

“I can’t,” Sehun said, “She didn’t apply to any.”

Jongin’s eyes widened, and he noticed Lisa’s did too.

“She had to have,” Lisa said. “Her parents wouldn’t have let her not.”

“She lied to them and told them that she did, but she didn’t,” Sehun shrugged. “She says she’s going to pretend to get into one, and then get a job instead.”

“How is that going to work?” Jongdae asked. “They’re going to know she didn’t get into any if they don’t have to write a check.”

“I asked her that,” Sehun nodded. “She said she’s going to tell them she got scholarships to cover it.”

“Sounds like she has it under control then,” Lisa scoffed in disbelief.

“I wonder if she could pull it off,” Jongin said, thinking it’d be interesting to see. He didn’t believe anyone should go to college if they didn’t want to, but it also seemed crazy to not go if there wasn’t a backup plan, and Rosé seemed to not really have one.

“I mean, she could,” Jongdae said. “For a little while. But at some point, they’d have to figure it out.”

“She’s probably banking on her parents not being invested enough,” Lisa said with a sigh. “That’s what she always does, but she keeps forgetting that it always catches up to her because inevitably she does something stupid to alert them to it.”

“Maybe she does that on purpose,” Sehun offered. “I think she’s trying to get their attention. I mean, it makes sense, right? They sent her to boarding school and now another school far from them.”

“I mean…” Lisa said, thinking through it, “we were all sent to boarding school. That’s how we met. I don’t think we thought it bothered her since it didn’t bother us much.”

“Yeah, but your family backgrounds are different,” Jongin pointed out, thinking that Sehun definitely was on to something. “Your parents, Jennie’s parents, and Jisoo’s parents are all very invested in your lives.”

Lisa bit her lip and then nodded, “Yeah, I guess they weren’t as invested. But she seemed cool with it. I always felt that’s part of what made her so independent and so… her.”

“It is her,” Jongdae said, “And you’re right, she probably has this all more under control than we think she does. But again, it wouldn’t hurt for her to have someone looking out for her, and that’s where my wishful thinking came into play.”

Jongin knew that Jongdae was trying to liven up the mood a bit, not wanting Lisa to feel down about this or conflicted about it on her birthday, so Jongin decided to help the cause and turned the attention back on Sehun.

“That’s a good point,” Jongin said, smirking at the young man, “Do you not find Rosé attractive? Is she not your type?”

“She’s not really my type,” Sehun said, looking a bit shy about it.

“Can she be your type?” Jongdae said, and then laughed and said, “I’m kidding. If she’s not your type, she’s not your type.”

“What is your type?” Jongin asked him, wondering if he could convince him that Rosé was a version of that for him.

“Um…” Sehun sucked his lips in, as if not sure he should say, and then he pushed his lips to the side in thought. “It’s just not Rosé.”

“Fair,” Jongdae said. “Well, I guess you’re not her type either since she hasn’t made any moves on you.”

“I’m definitely not her type,” Sehun nodded with wide eyes.

Jongin felt there was more there, but whatever it was, Sehun didn’t share. He was saved from Jongin asking more about it as he noticed Jennie and Rosé walking over toward them, laughing about something as Rosé picked up a new drink from the bar along the way.

“What’d we miss?” Jennie asked, sitting on Jongin’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her, giving her a little squeeze to let her know he missed her, and smelled the distinct scent of the pot that had been smoked. She giggled and popped a playful kiss on his cheek that made him chuckle.

“A whole discussion about how Sehun and Rosé really aren’t dating,” Jongdae informed, putting Lisa’s empty plate down for her as Lisa cuddled into him.

“Why is that so hard for people to believe?” Rosé said, sitting on the table that faced them instead of pulling over a chair.

“Not this again,” Jongin said, and Jongdae cackled.

Baekhyun announced that it was time for birthday shots, and he brought over a tray to them. The other friends pulled chairs over so that they were all huddled around as Baekhyun passed around the tray for everyone to grab their shot.

“To the birthday girl,” Baekhyun said, lifting his shot glass, and everyone repeated the phrase then took their shots.

Except Jongin, who really couldn’t drink anything else that night, so he handed his to Rosé who gladly took it from him to add to her stash of drinks on the table.

“I’m officially not going to be able to walk out of here,” Lisa said, grabbing her soda to finish that off as well.

“I’ll carry you down,” Jongdae said, and Jongin laughed and told him that he wasn’t going to be able to walk out of there either.

As the night ended, the most sober of the pack, Jongin, Sehun, Jisoo, Jennie, and Nayeon ended up helping carry Lisa’s presents to the Uber they had called for them, since neither Jongdae nor Lisa could’ve successfully called themselves one in the state they were in.

Once they saw them off and wished Lisa “happy birthday” again, Jongin tried to assess the rest of the party’s transportation needs. He knew Sehun would get him and Rosé back just fine since Sehun hadn’t drunk much, and he could drive him and Jennie to Jennie’s dorm without issue.

“I think I can drive his car,” Nayeon said to Jisoo.

Jongin watched Jisoo reach her hand into Chanyeol’s pants pocket to take his keys out while Chanyeol giggled and made a funny face about it.

“Is he going to be alright?” Jongin asked Baekhyun, who kept laughing at the whole thing.

“Yeah, he’s good,” Baekhyun waved off. “Now that he’s not in season anymore, he can finally let loose. You know, I think he really needed a night like this after all the basketball pressure he was under.”

Jongin nodded and didn’t have anything to add, so he looked Baekhyun over and said, “How about you?”

“I’m a goner. Who let me drink this much? Jisooo,” Baekhyun whined, “You know I can’t drink tooooo much.”

“Am I your mother?” Jisoo asked, rolling her eyes as she pulled out her own keys. “Nayeon’s going to drive you and Yeol back to campus.”

“Nayeon,” Baekhyun said with a smile as he pointed to her. “Did you have fun?”

“I did,” Nayeon said with a small laugh. “Now come on.”

Jongin looked over to see Sehun watching the whole scene, and Jongin didn’t say anything as Baekhyun wrapped his arm around Chanyeol, the two laughing and chatting about nothing that made sense as they walked with Nayeon toward wherever Chanyeol had parked.

“You good to get Rosé home?” Jongin then asked Sehun, who blinked and then looked at him.

“Oh, yeah,” Sehun said, and he furrowed his brows and looked at the keys in his hands, then over toward Rosé, who was hugging Jennie and saying she was her favorite person in the whole world. “I’ll never understand why people get so drunk,” he then said. “I’ve never been drunk, but it seems dumb.”

“It is dumb,” Jongin told him with a fond smile. “I got drunk once, and I felt so terrible the next day that I vowed to never be drunk again.”

“Then why do people get drunk in the first place?”

“Eh, they get caught up in the moment,” Jongin told him. “Some people actually like the feeling of being drunk. Enough that they don’t care about how the hangover makes them feel.” He noticed Sehun looking thoughtful and Jongin smiled and pat his shoulder. “It’s not a big deal. People have fun in different ways. You still had fun tonight, right?”

“The dinner was the most fun part,” Sehun nodded, and Jongin agreed with him.

Once they saw off their youngest, Jongin took Jennie’s hand to stroll with her, taking in the cool night air as they headed to his car.

“Are you happy with how everything turned out?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she said, “More than happy. Lisa said she had a great time and kept thanking me.”

“Good,” he said, lifting their hands up so he could place a little kiss on the back of hers. “So who’s birthday is next?”

“It’s actually Sehun’s,” she said, and he looked at her a bit surprised, though he honestly shouldn’t have been by now.

“When did you even find out Sehun’s birthday?” Jongin asked her with amusement.

“I asked Rosé at some point,” she said, as she swung their hands happily, “He’s turning 18, but I’m not sure what he’s doing for his birthday, so I told Rosé to keep me updated. He’s very lowkey, so he’ll probably just do something with his family. The big one after that though is Baekhyun, and I’ve already got the perfect idea.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Jongin asked as they reached his car.

“Live band karaoke,” Jennie said with a smirk as they walked over to the passenger side.

“Brilliant,” he said, and he popped a kiss on her lips, then opened the passenger door so she could get in.

As Jongin drove them back to Jennie’s campus, he had to admit that the night had gone pretty alright. Not only did Lisa enjoy her party, but Kyungsoo had left the party early with Taeyong, which meant being around Chanyeol hadn’t made him change his mind about it.

He really hoped he didn’t have to worry about Kyungsoo and Chanyeol after all.


	20. Chapter 20

Kyungsoo and Taeyong stared at the concession stand, knowing they were too full to eat anything, but deciding that it was too weird to not have something to snack on while watching the movie.

“Maybe just a popcorn then?” Taeyong suggested.

“Nachos?” Kyungsoo suggested back. He always preferred nachos.

“Sure,” Taeyong shrugged.

They got nachos and water then went inside the palatial theater, which was pretty empty considering how late it was.

“Oh wow,” Taeyong said, taking in the grandiose space, and Kyungsoo smiled. This had been exactly the reaction he had been going for. “This is insane,” Taeyong said as he took out his phone to get some pictures of the large red curtain that would open when the film started.

Kyungsoo chuckled, shuffling into the middle row to get them a perfect center seat while Taeyong walked around to get pictures of the columns on the sides and the large ornate ceiling that looked like its own elaborate jewelry piece hanging above them.

Once done, Taeyong joined Kyungsoo, sitting beside him and asking, “So they hold movie premieres here?”

“Yep,” Kyungsoo said, “They shut down Hollywood Boulevard and roll out the red carpet. One day I’m going to walk that red carpet and see my face on that screen.”

“Your face is going to be really big,” Taeyong pointed out. “I’ve never seen a screen that big.”

“You’re going to see all of my pores,” Kyungsoo snickered, offering him nachos.

“I’m sure your pores will look great on the big screen,” Taeyong said with a laugh, and he helped himself to a tortilla chip and dipped it into the processed cheese sauce.

“I need to get serious about my skincare routine,” Kyungsoo teased, eating his nacho in one bite.

Taeyong smiled at him, and then seemed to want to say something, so Kyungsoo waited for him to do so.

“So…” Taeyong began, “I mean, you know, when we left the coffee shop, I noticed your car.”

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow and looked at him, unsure of where this was going.

“Like, it was nice,” Taeyong explained. “You have a BMW. And I figured that your parents bought it for you. You know, probably like a graduation gift.”

Kyungsoo nodded at him to confirm.

“And like,” Taeyong seemed hesitant to continue, but did so anyway, “So in my head, I guessed your family probably had money, but… I’m really trying to wrap my head around what I experienced tonight.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, understanding where this was coming from now. “Oh,” he said again, nodding, “Yeah, that’s not normal. I mean… like, my friends and I don’t normally roll like that, but Jongin started dating Jennie, and she’s exactly that kind of person.”

“The kind of person that can somehow convince an entire dining establishment to look the other way while a bunch of minors drink?”

“Exactly that kind of person,” Kyungsoo confirmed. “It’s taken some getting used to.”

“Yeah, you all seemed perfectly comfortable there. Meanwhile, I kept being paranoid that the cops were going to bust in and arrest us all, and I was going to get deported.”

Kyungsoo chuckled at this, even though Taeyong hadn’t meant it as a joke, and Kyungsoo apologized and cleared his throat.

“You weren’t going to get arrested or deported,” Kyungsoo assured him, “And I’m sorry you were freaked out about it all night.”

“But how do you know that?” Taeyong asked, and he seemed like he really needed to understand this. “How can you be so confident about that? If the bartender had been annoyed enough, he could have called the cops right then and there.”

“If he did, he probably would have lost his job,” Kyungsoo pointed out, “Since he was under instructions by his boss to serve us no matter what.”

“Let’s say he didn’t care about losing his job,” Taeyong said. “You don’t know his situation. He could have chosen principle over money. This didn’t even cross your mind did it?”

Kyungsoo realized that Taeyong was passing some sort of judgement over him, but he understood it to a certain extent. His eyebrows turned downward as he realized that the entire time that he had been telling Jongin the same things, it had always been from the perspective of “why were things so extra” versus Taeyong’s point, which was more “this behavior has consequences.”

“I’m sorry,” Taeyong said, “I didn’t mean to be…”

“Yeah you did,” Kyungsoo told him, but he didn’t know how to feel at the moment about it and was grateful when the lights went down and the curtain started opening so that he didn’t have to talk about it for the time being.

It was hard to concentrate on the movie at first, but at some point, Kyungsoo did let himself enjoy it. When it finished, however, Kyungsoo knew that Taeyong would probably want to continue this discourse, so he tried to mentally prepare himself for it.

They headed outside, the tourists long gone this late at night, and Kyungsoo smiled and said, “Now’s your chance to look at all the handprints without fighting the tourists.”

They hadn’t been able to stop and look at them before since they didn’t want to be late to the movie, but now that they virtually had the place to themselves, Taeyong did take them in, moving from one to the other and taking pictures of the ones he thought were interesting.

Kyungsoo offered to take a picture of Taeyong putting his hands in Daniel Radcliffe’s handprints when he got excited about the Harry Potter one. Taeyong laughed as he got on his hands and knees and put his hands in the imprints, and Kyungsoo took several angles of the picture so he could pick the one he liked best.

“One day, it’ll be your hands down there,” Taeyong said, flipping through the pictures on his phone once he was standing again.

“One day,” Kyungsoo said.

“Okay, but now I feel like I need to wash my hands,” Taeyong then said, putting his phone away and dusting his hand on his jeans.

“We can go inside the Roosevelt Hotel,” Kyungsoo said, pointing across the street at the historic hotel that stood tall and in contrast to the night sky. “I’m sure we could use their bathroom.”

“Let’s try it,” Taeyong said.

Kyungsoo smiled and they headed to the hotel, entering into what could have been a movie set from an old 50’s film where everything was elegant and posh. A fountain greeted them in the lobby, as did a large chandelier, arches, and more columns.

“Wow,” Taeyong said, and again he took out his phone to take pictures.

Kyungsoo decided to figure out where the bathroom was and saw one clerk on duty at the check-in desk. After being directed in the right direction by the clerk, he motioned to Taeyong, and they both went to wash their hands.

Once they were back in the lobby, Taeyong took more pictures and then took a seat on one of the red leather couches, facing the fountain and just staring at it. Kyungsoo sat beside him and watched him, amused that he found it so fascinating.

“This is one of those moments,” Taeyong said, “where I feel like I’m not in reality.”

“It’s because you’re tired and have too much food in your system,” Kyungsoo teased.

Taeyong looked at him, then gave him a soft smile and said, “I feel like dating you is going to be full of these types of moments.”

“They can be,” Kyungsoo said, again not sure how to take that, “if you want. Also, you know, if you’d want to keep dating me.”

Taeyong sighed and looked down at their hands, which were next to each other, and he moved his hand to cover Kyungsoo’s, then held it.

“I’m really sorry about how I came off at the theater,” Taeyong then said. “I’m not used to things like this.”

“Neither am I,” Kyungsoo said, at least not in the way Taeyong thought.

“I’m not like you and your friends,” he then said, and Kyungsoo watched him for a moment and decided to hold his hand back, more for support if he felt he needed it.

“I’m not like my friends either,” Kyungsoo said. “You don’t have to be like them. I like that you’re not like them.” Taeyong didn’t look convinced, so Kyungsoo squeezed his hand and said, “But you shouldn’t judge my friends either. Or feel uncomfortable around them. They’re good people who like to have a good time. They just want you to have a good time too. And oh my God, I can’t believe I just referred to them as my friends.”

Kyungsoo wanted to smack himself, but Taeyong found this funny and let out a soft laugh.

“I swear that when I first met Jennie,” Kyungsoo explained, “I told Jongin to dump her. I’m such a terrible person. She’s honestly been nothing but nice to me, and now I’m at a point where I think I’ve just accepted her for who she is. How did this happen?”

“You’re really cute right now,” Taeyong said to him, and Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow.

“When I’m freaking out is not the time to flirt with me,” Kyungsoo stated, and then he had a realization and his eyes widened as he said, “I can’t believe I actually like these people now.”

Taeyong leaned in, catching Kyungsoo by surprise as he touched his lips to his and gave him a soft kiss. It took a moment for Kyungsoo to register the act and give in to it, but then he kissed him back just as softly and stared at Taeyong as he pulled away.

“It’s insane how cute you are when you freak out,” Taeyong said. “You were getting cuter and cuter by the moment. I had to kiss you.”

Kyungsoo felt his cheeks and ears get a little warm, and he was rendered pretty speechless, not sure how to reply to that.

“Or maybe I shouldn’t have?” Taeyong asked, now looking unsure.

“No, it was fine,” Kyungsoo said, “I just… wasn’t expecting… yeah, I mean, what am I saying?”

“I have no idea,” Taeyong said, looking at him a little amused.

“I like that you kissed me,” Kyungsoo said, trying to make something clear here. “Even though I was freaking out, I’m glad you did it.”

“Okay,” Taeyong said, and he rubbed his thumb over the back of Kyungsoo’s hand, which suddenly made Kyungsoo want more kisses. “So third date?”

“Third date,” Kyungsoo nodded. “I’ll make it more realistic. No friends. Just us and something simple.”

“I didn’t hate tonight,” Taeyong said, squeezing his hand. “It was unexpected. And it made me think a lot. And yeah, I was freaked out about dinner. But… I liked the movie theater, and I like this hotel part.”

Kyungsoo acknowledged this and thought about what kind of date Taeyong would really like. He then thought of something and smiled.

“I know where to take you for the third date,” Kyungsoo then said, and when Taeyong asked him where, he said it was a secret. He yawned out of nowhere and checked the time on his phone.

“Past your bedtime?” Taeyong asked, letting go of his hand so he could stand up.

Kyungsoo smiled at him then stood up as well and realized that Taeyong had been doing a great job of keeping his hand warm. Once they were back outside, Kyungsoo took Taeyong’s hand again into his, and they walked back to their cars, both making small talk and Kyungsoo enjoying the feeling of walking with someone in this way.

At their cars, it was Kyungsoo that gave Taeyong a soft kiss goodbye, and he decided that he liked the way Taeyong kissed him back and was looking forward to doing this with him on each date.

***

As the boring school days went by, Kyungsoo did find himself daydreaming a lot about his next date with Taeyong, which he had reworked in his mind several times to make sure was as perfect as it could be. Then one morning, in his Statistics class, Chanyeol had caught him daydreaming, and it had taken a moment to realize that he had said “hi” to him since Kyungsoo had been staring out the window at nothing.

“Hey, hi,” Kyungsoo said, focusing back on Chanyeol, who had actually dressed up for class in jeans and a black T-shirt that had some graphic of a rave on it in bright colors. Kyungsoo was so used to seeing him come to class in sweats or shorts from having worked out first that he had to take an extra moment to really register that it was him.

“I think I’m still hungover from the party,” Chanyeol said with a chuckle, opening his laptop.

“That was like days ago,” Kyungsoo said, also noticing that his hair was soft and fluffy like he had washed it and styled it that morning instead of having it settle into whatever state the sweat from his workout put it into. “You don’t look hungover.”

Chanyeol looked at him once he was set up and said, “It was a good night.”

“It was,” Kyungsoo agreed.

“I’m sad you left early though,” Chanyeol then mentioned, “Did you have fun at your movie with your date?”

“I did,” Kyungsoo said with a smile. “We had a nice night. Did you have fun the rest of your night with your date?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol told him, “I think. I know she drove me and Baek home, but since it was my car, she stayed in my dorm.”

Kyungsoo blinked and said, “Oh. It was that kind of night.”

“Oh, no,” Chanyeol said, waving his hand so that he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “She just… it was too late for her to go home after dropping us off. It wasn’t anything like that. I let her sleep on my bed, and I just slept on the floor.”

Kyungsoo smirked, not sure how he wanted to play this, but then he decided to be nice and said, “You’re such a gentleman.”

“I mean…” Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck and looked a bit embarrassed, “You know… it was technically our first date. We don’t know each other like that yet.”

“I get it,” Kyungsoo nodded.

Chanyeol was saved further explanation when the professor started class, but after class, it seemed that he was eager to keep talking because he asked him if he wanted to get a snack before they had to get to their next classes.

“Yeah, I have time,” Kyungsoo told him, and they walked together toward the café in the engineering building since that was the closest snack option to their class.

They decided to split a chicken banh mi for their snack, and they both got iced coffee drinks to go with it. It was a bit full inside, so they had to take a 4-person table to themselves, both sitting to one side in case anyone needed to join them due to the lack of space.

“So what’s going to keep you busy now that your season is over?” Kyungsoo asked Chanyeol as he picked up his piece of the sandwich.

“Music,” Chanyeol said without missing a beat. “I’m going to focus on some music projects outside of class stuff and probably hit up more shows now that I have the time for it.”

Kyungsoo liked this answer, and his face must have shown it because Chanyeol lit up at the sight of it.

“What kind of shows are you going to?” Kyungsoo asked him after he had eaten a bite of his sandwich. “Like DJ shows. Raves?”

“Yeah, probably,” Chanyeol said. “It’s not the only kind of music I like, but I like those shows the best.”

“Are you going to take Nayeon as your date to the shows?”

Chanyeol looked surprised by the question, then said, “Uh, I hadn’t thought about it. I was just going to ask Baek to go with me.”

“Your music partner in crime,” Kyungsoo nodded.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol agreed, and then he seemed about to ask something, but Kyungsoo’s phone interrupted them.

He looked at the number and immediately recognized it as the number that had called him about the callback. He picked up quickly and tried to sound calm when he said, “Hello?”

“Hi, can I speak to Mr. Doh?”

“Speaking,” Kyungsoo said, standing up abruptly and heading back outside. If it was bad news, he didn’t want Chanyeol to see him cry, and as he listened to the casting director speak to him, his heart started beating faster.

“We’d like to put you on avail and have you come in for a screen test with the other cast members.”

Kyungsoo was going to die. He really was going to. He knew that the only thing keeping him standing was disbelief, and once Kyungsoo agreed to everything and got the information he needed, he hung up and jumped up and down.

This was happening. Well almost happening. But it felt like it was practically happening, and he immediately started screaming into the Jongas Brothers chat.

_Kyungsoo: I GOT CALLED TO COME IN FOR A SCREEN TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_Jongdae: SHIT IT’S HAPPENING! THIS ISN’T A DRILL!_

_Jongin: Holy shit! Congrats! So you got it?_

_Kyungsoo: ALMOST! IF THE SCREEN TEST GOES WELL THEN PROBABLY YES!_

_Jongdae: What’s taking them so long? They need to just give you the part already._

_Jongin: You got this, Jongsoo! I’m so happy for you!_

_Jongdae: Remember. I’m your date for the Oscars._

_Jongin: You wish. I have a red gown picked out already._

_Jongdae: ASDFGHJKLFASDADKF!_

_Kyungsoo: I love you guys!_

Kyungsoo couldn’t stop beaming. He was one step closer to his goal of starting his acting career, which meant he was one step closer to not having to deal with school. He hurried back into the café and had barely sat back in his seat before he told Chanyeol the news.

“Wow,” Chanyeol said, his wide eyes blinking as he processed it. “So you’re going to actually be in a movie?”

“Hopefully,” Kyungsoo said. “Usually a screen test would mean that they want to cast me, but they have to see what my chemistry is like with the other cast members.”

“Obviously your chemistry is going to be amazing,” Chanyeol said, putting his hand out as if, of course, this was a fact.

“I really hope so,” Kyungsoo nodded. He was so close. He knew that this was almost it.

“What part would you play?”

“Oh, a gang member.”

“What?” Chanyeol said, bursting out into a surprised laugh. Kyungsoo grinned wide, loving the reaction and how it looked on him.

“Yeah, it’s a retelling of a kinda true story about a gang member in one of the big Chinese gangs down in Chinatown. So all our filming would mostly be done downtown. The part I’d be playing is one of the sidekicks of the main guy.”

“Wait, why aren’t you the lead?” Chanyeol asked in a way that made it seem like he really was affronted by this.

“I haven’t met the lead yet,” Kyungsoo explained, “but I’m willing to bet he looks like a super young version of Daniel Dae Kim. It’s Hollywood. They typecast. I’m small and don’t fit their ideal of a leading Asian man, so I’m the sidekick. For now,” Kyungsoo added with a smirk.

“Yeah, you need to change their minds about that. You’re probably better looking than the lead.”

Kyungsoo chuckled, feeling a little warmth inside at Chanyeol essentially calling him good-looking. But in order to keep Chanyeol from freaking out about what he had just said, he simply replied, “We’ll see about that.”

“Do you get to shoot guns and stuff?” Chanyeol asked, even more excited about the details.

“I haven’t read the whole script yet, so I’m not sure. I hope so though. That would be fun.”

“Yeah, it would be,” Chanyeol nodded. “Man, this is gonna be so cool for you. Do you have an Insta? Are you going to document it? I want to follow your journey.”

“I don’t,” Kyungsoo said. “Jongin tried to get both me and Jongdae to get Instagram, and we were like ‘no.’”

“How are you going to promote the movie then?” Chanyeol asked, “They’re going to make you get one to promote.”

“We’ll see,” Kyungsoo shrugged.

“Maybe your manager or agent could run one for you,” Chanyeol offered.

Kyungsoo sucked his lips in, thinking that he actually needed to get one of those, or both.

“I don’t have a manager or agent yet,” Kyungsoo told him, and Chanyeol shook his head.

“You have to get one,” Chanyeol said, picking up the last bite of his sandwich to finish. “You have to have someone look over the contract they give you before you sign it.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Kyungsoo said, pursing his lips to the side. “In theory,” he added. He had been thinking about this, and at one point he wondered if he could just get Jongin’s sister and dad to do it for him and be his manager too. But then he realized that he should probably ask his parents to do it. “I’ll figure it out.”

“My brother has an agent,” Chanyeol mentioned after he had finished swallowing his bite.

“Sehun?” Kyungsoo asked, not that he had heard about Chanyeol having another brother. “Does he act too?” Kyungsoo finally picked up the sandwich he had virtually abandoned and took another bite of it.

“No,” Chanyeol chuckled, “He models. Well, my mom wants him to model. He did some runways for LA Fashion Week but then told her that he wanted to focus on getting into a good school this year, so he’s dropped it a bit. But once he gets his acceptance letter, I know my mom’s going to be on his ass about it.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, understanding why his mother would think Sehun should be a model, but he thought Chanyeol could be a pretty great model too. “Did she want you to be a model too?”

“Kinda,” Chanyeol said like he wasn’t sure how to answer. “She knew my basketball thing was important to me, so she had suggested it a few times but never pushed it. With Sehun, it’s more like…” Chanyeol thought for a second, which gave Kyungsoo plenty of time to finish his sandwich as well. “She doesn’t think Sehun has any direction. He’s not ambitious like me, so she always feels like she needs to push him to do things.”

“I get that,” Kyungsoo nodded as he folded up the brown paper that had held the banh mi. “My parents are like that with me about everything except acting.”

“What crazy things have they made you do?” Chanyeol said, relaxing against his chair while holding his coffee now that they were done eating.

“Go to school,” Kyungsoo stated, and Chanyeol laughed. God, he really liked making him laugh. Why did Chanyeol have to be so frustrating by not liking him back? “My dad really wants me to join a fraternity.”

“Oh wow,” Chanyeol said, either stunned or worried, Kyungsoo couldn’t quite read the look on his face. “Are you going to?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “I wasn’t at first, but then my mom made some good points and now I’m thinking it wouldn’t hurt to at least rush and see what it’s all about.”

“Yeah, I hear the parties are good,” Chanyeol said. “I can ask Nayeon for tips if you want.”

Kyungsoo smiled, even though he internally wanted to roll his eyes. “I think I’m going to wing it, but thanks,” he said instead.

“You’ll have to tell me how it goes,” Chanyeol told him, and Kyungsoo promised he would.

With Kyungsoo’s next class on the other side of campus, they had to wrap up their snack break. Kyungsoo took the trash to the bin and they walked together until they had to go their separate ways. They said they’d see each other later, and between his amazing screen test news and having a nice snack with Chanyeol, Kyungsoo had the biggest smile on his face as he walked to his next class.


	21. Chapter 21

When Jonghee and his father had decided that modeling was something that Jongin should definitely do, he hadn’t expected everything to go into overdrive and have a job booked so soon. But here he was, lying in the desert in faded jeans, black boots, and a T-shirt that was so small that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep it from riding up and showing off his tummy.

The photographer loved it though and kept telling him to play into it and not be afraid to show off his incredible body, which made Jongin feel weird. But he knew how to be professional, so he did as he was told, giving the right faces to the camera that went along with the aesthetic of whatever was happening with his shirt being a tease.

Maybe what made the whole thing weird was his sister standing nearby with her arms crossed watching the whole thing. Maybe if it had been Jennie instead, he really could have played off the vibe better, but it was his sister, and he wondered if she was rethinking this whole thing now that she saw what it entailed.

“I can’t believe this is your first photo shoot,” the creative director, also standing to the side with her arms crossed, said.

“He’s a natural,” Jonghee said with pride, and the creative director agreed.

When it was time to change outfits, Jongin went into the trailer to put on whatever else was in store for him. He hoped it covered things a little better.

“How are you feeling about this?” Jonghee asked him, having followed him in. She sat in a small chair in the corner.

“Weird,” Jongin told her honestly. “Don’t you think it’s weird?”

“No,” she stated. “I think it’s long overdue. The camera loves you. I mean, it loves our whole family, but you know how to work it better.”

Jongin snorted and thanked the stylist as she handed him a new shirt after he handed her the one he had taken off. He put it on and was glad it was longer.

“I know this is really weird,” he said, as he took his jeans off next, “but I feel like I’m being prostituted.”

Jonghee looked surprised by this and asked him why, but he couldn’t really explain it.

“I don’t know, maybe because the photographer likes it every time I show skin,” he shrugged, thanking the stylist yet again as he took the black jeans from her that he had to wear next.

“He’s just complimenting you to try and make you feel more comfortable,” Jonghee waved off. “Trust me, if I thought he was hitting on you, I would have laid him out already.”

Jongin chuckled at the sentiment, then sat down to put on a brown pair of work boots this time.

“It’s true though,” she said, “This whole spread is to advertise these Fendi jeans you’re wearing. They’re going to have you posing in ways that show off the jeans or bring attention to them. They know what they’re doing.”

Jongin must have not looked too convinced because Jonghee felt the need to further elaborate.

“I made it very clear to Kara that we would only take legitimate assignments with established talent. The look that she gave me…” Jonghee said, looking as exasperated as she had sounded after her first meeting with the agent. “She was so offended that I would think that she dealt with any other kind of people. But I told her, ‘Good, prove it.’ So here you are, modeling Fendi jeans for a pictorial in _Flaunt_ magazine.”

Jongin stood up and looked at her, then gave her a soft smile.

“Thanks for always looking out for me,” he told her.

“Someone has to, you brat,” she said, standing up as well so they could go back outside.

The hair and makeup team did retouches here and there before the entire crew moved to another location with different desert scenery as the backdrop for the next shots.

His sister’s words did help with the rest of the shoot, as he got more comfortable with the idea and tried out some poses and facial expressions to see if they worked as well. He thought they must have since the creative director wouldn’t stop hounding his sister until she had gotten her direct number and told her that she will definitely be calling to book him again.

Once he was back in the city that night, he met up with Jennie for dinner who naturally wanted to know all the details, and as he told her every single thing, from who the people he had worked with were to what he had to wear, she somehow looked prouder by the minute.

“I can’t wait for the issue to come out,” she said, so excited that she clapped cutely. “I’m going to buy 100 copies at least.”

Jongin laughed and ate some of the sweet potato fries they had ordered as a starter.

“I hope they invite you to a party,” Jennie then said as she dipped her fry in the sauce that had come on the side. “ _Flaunt_ parties are must-attends.”

“They have parties?” Jongin asked, not remembering being told anything about this.

“Yeah, lots of them,” Jennie nodded, “They host a lot of different events around the city. Usually with very big-name people in attendance.

“Interesting. I’ll let you know if I get an invite,” he assured her, and Jennie looked pleased by this as she sipped her iced tea.

“My dad wants to know if you’ll be able to golf with him this weekend,” she then said, and Jongin snorted. “He said he enjoyed it when you golfed with him last time.”

“I’m sure,” Jongin said, not sure how to even talk with her about her father. The whole time they had been on the golf course had been pretty painful starting from him interrogating him about college again to asking him what his plans were for when his dancing career ended.

Jennie watched him for a moment then sighed and tried to give him a supportive smile. “He just wants to get to know you better,” she said.

“No,” Jongin stated, honesty coming out before he could stop it, “he wants to make sure I’m good enough for you.”

“That’s not it. He trusts my judgment and knows I wouldn’t pick someone that wasn’t good enough for me.”

“Did he do this with your ex?”

Jennie’s lips twisted and formed into a pout, and Jongin knew he had hit unwelcome territory. Jennie never talked about her ex, and the little he knew about him had come from Lisa.

“Did your ex’s father _not_ do this with you?” Jennie threw back instead with a daring look.

As it turned out, Jongin also wasn’t the most forthcoming with his one past serious relationship, and he knew that Jennie also had found out things about it from Lisa.

“No,” Jongin answered her, remaining calm to prove to her that he could talk about these things. “But it was different because we grew up together and he already knew me.”

“Well my father doesn’t,” Jennie said, “He wants to know you. That’s all it is.”

“Then why does he keep trying to get me to go to college then?” Jongin whined. Now it was his turn to pout, and it had the desired effect of making Jennie loosen up again and smile at him.

“He thinks education is important,” she shrugged. “He likes smart people. And you’re smart even without college, so he’ll like you just fine.”

“I don’t like golfing,” he then said, still pouting about this.

“Then invite him to do something else,” she said. “You can suggest an activity.”

Jongin didn’t even know what activity he could suggest doing with this man and was glad when their entrees were bought out so that this topic of conversation could end.

He cut into his chicken breast and was about to take a bite when Jennie remarked, “I mean, at least you’ve met my parents.”

Jongin put down his fork, not bothering to take the bite, and put his hands in his lap, watching her as she continued to eat her food. He knew that his mother wanted to meet her, but he also knew it was more out of curiosity and because of how her parents appeared to be treating him. So before, when his concern had been that they’d spend the whole dinner comparing her to Krystal and not liking her, now his concern was that, on top of that, they wouldn’t like her because they already had decided that they didn’t like her parents.

And Jennie needed to be liked. He had no doubt she’d buy them both expensive presents and do everything she could to make the best impression. And then she’d spend the rest of the night after dinner asking him if he thought they liked her and whether she had done enough to impress them.

He didn’t want to subject her to any of that. But… they wanted to meet her, and she wanted to meet them, and they had been together for six months now. Maybe it just needed to happen for the sake of happening.

“Fine,” he said, and she looked up at him, curious. “I’ll tell my mom that I’m inviting you to dinner this weekend. Sunday probably. Saturday is too busy of a day for the business.”

The smile that glowed on Jennie’s face made Jongin feel a little guilty for taking so long to do this.

“Sunday night dinner sounds perfect,” she said, and he swore he could see all the wheels turning in her mind: what to wear, how to do her hair, what to buy as gifts, what to bring for dinner.

“Okay, I’ll let them know,” he said, picking his fork back up to start eating.

The rest of dinner was spent with her asking him questions about what his mother liked, what his father liked, what his sisters liked, and so on. Jongin did his best to answer everything, apologizing when he didn’t know what kind of flowers June liked or what types of desserts were his father’s favorite.

By the end of dinner, Jennie had typed notes into her phone and told him how excited she was again. He almost wanted to tell Kyungsoo and Jongdae that he had changed his mind about staying at their place that night so that he could stay with Jennie and continue enjoying her enthusiasm about the whole thing, but as he told Jennie, he had promised to be there in the morning for Kyungsoo’s big day to give him all the luck he needed.

“I’m so excited for him,” she said after he had walked her to her car. “I know he’s going to get this part.”

“I know it too,” Jongin told her, and he gave her a goodbye kiss before seeing her off.

When he got to his best friends’ apartment, he found Kyungsoo pacing back and forth in the living room running lines with Jongdae who lounged on the couch and yawned.

“Don’t you have this memorized by now?” Jongin teased as he walked in, having his own copy of their key.

“I have it memorized,” Kyungsoo explained, “I just don’t know if I like how I’m interpreting it.”

“You’re relieved of duty,” Jongin said to Jongdae, who let out another yawn as he lifted his hand in victory, handing the sides to Jongin and rolling off the couch to the floor in order to get up.

Jongin sat on the vacated couch and flipped through the pages, telling Kyungsoo that they’d run through it two more times and then he was going to force him to go to sleep so he could get a good night’s rest before the screen test. Kyungsoo protested, which Jongin knew he would do, and Jongdae told him to stop being a baby as he patted his back and told him to break a leg, then disappeared to his room to pass out.

Jongin loved watching Kyungsoo act. It amazed him how when he said his lines, he wasn’t Kyungsoo at all. And Jongin did understand it. He was able to do the same when he danced. But dancing was a physical conduit for the music that played, and Jongin felt that in his veins, which always helped him to transform into the performance he needed it to be. This was different. Kyungsoo had no music to guide him, no physical choreography to follow, he just had his imagination and the belief that he was, in that moment, a 16-year-old gang banger in Chinatown. It was incredible and one of the things he most respected about his best friend.

After relenting to give Kyungsoo a third pass at it, they finally did go to sleep, Jongin cozying up on the couch for the night to pass out. He checked his phone to find more texts from Jennie with options of things she found online that his sisters might like, and he told her for the millionth time to stop worrying about it because she didn’t need to get them anything.

***

In the morning, after feeding Kyungsoo and wishing him all the luck in the world, Jongin headed to the studio to get as much practice time in before the inevitable celebration they were going to have once Kyungsoo officially got the part.

He smiled when he saw Lisa, wearing her pink beanie that she had worn every single day in classes since Jongdae had given it to her. She did some warmup dance moves, and he took a quick video of it, then sent it to Jongdae to let him know that the beanie had been a great success.

“I saw that,” Lisa said, once she was done and stretching.

“I need Jongdae to know that the beanie is permanently attached to your head,” he explained, putting his phone away in his bag in the corner. “Now he has video proof.”

“I’ve sent him selfies,” she said, but her smile was wide anyway, giving away that she loved when he brought his best friend up in conversation to her. “He has proof already.”

“I would’ve dragged him here with me to see for himself, but he had to go work on some art project due next week.”

“His art is so good,” Lisa said, holding her elbow as she stretched her arm over her head. “Every time he shows me something new that he drew or painted, I’m amazed. He drew a doodle of me, and it really did look like me. And it was just a doodle. Like how?”

“I told you,” Jongin said with a grin. “I only know talented people.”

Jongin spotted Taeyong walk into class, and Jongin smiled and waved at him, which seemed to affirm to Taeyong that he was free to come over and stretch with them.

“Hey, guys,” he said, joining them on the floor as he stretched his legs out.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Jongin asked.

“I’m good,” Taeyong told him and then immediately asked, “When do we find out about Kyungsoo?”

“Hopefully soon,” Jongin said, flexing his ankle out a bit more since it had been bothering him lately. “The anticipation is killing me.”

“Yeah, me too,” Taeyong agreed. “We were supposed to have our second date today, but then he got the call, so we had to reschedule to next week.”

“Oh,” Jongin said, the wheels turning in his head, “Well, we were going to do a congrats dinner for him after he officially got it, so maybe you can join us. That way you still kind of have your date.”

Taeyong smiled at the request, and said, “I don’t want to crash or anything.”

“It’s not crashing if I invited you,” Jongin said, and then he looked at Lisa, “You too.” He figured Taeyong would feel less weird about it if he invited Lisa along, plus he knew Jongdae would like more time with her.

“Let’s go,” Lisa said to Taeyong, knowing full well Jongin’s agenda. “We’ll be starving after this anyway.”

“That’s… a good point,” Taeyong said, and he gave a soft smile and said, “Okay.”

Jongin had hoped they’d get the good news sooner rather than later, but even as he jumped from class to class, and even went to grab lunch, he started to believe that things were going extremely well. That was the only explanation as to why they hadn’t heard anything yet since, as they said, no news was good news.

It was in the middle of working on a contemporary routine with one of his mentors that he heard his phone buzzing, and he instinctively knew it was Kyungsoo. He pushed himself up from the floor so fast that his mentor thought something was wrong, and Jongin chuckled at him and picked up the call.

“Did you get it?” Jongin asked before Kyungsoo could even say hello.

“I got it,” Kyungsoo said, and from his voice and tone, Jongin could tell that Kyungsoo was freaking out and probably shaking.

“I knew it!” Jongin said, jumping up and down in place, which made his mentor laugh at him. “Congrats, future Oscar winner.”

“I’m shaking,” Kyungsoo said.

“I know,” Jongin told him, “Do you need me to pick you up?”

“No, I think I’m going to sit in my car for a minute and try to stop freaking out.”

“Good plan. Your congrats dinner is at the Koreatown Pizza Company if you want to head that way once you’ve got yourself together. I’ll leave in a few to head down there. Oh, and I invited Lisa and Taeyong to your celebration if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Kyungsoo said, and Jongin heard him take a deep breath, “Okay, I’ll head over there. I need pizza.”

Jongin laughed at him and told him he’d meet him there, then he hung up and let his mentor know that he had to go steal Taeyong and Lisa from the classes they were in so they could head out. He called Jongdae who was yelling into the phone in happiness saying he knew he was going to get it, and Jongin decided to yell with him, but then stopped yelling when he tried to get Lisa’s attention through the glass window of her class.

She spotted him and laughed, then hurried to get her things from against the wall and met him outside just as he hung up with Jongdae.

“He got it,” he told her as if the fact that he was beaming hadn’t already made it clear.

“I figured,” she said with a laugh, “Let me run to the bathroom and change while you find Taeyong.”

Jongin said he’d meet her outside and went to find Taeyong, who was in a jazz class and facing the wrong direction for Jongin to get his attention. Instead, he tapped on the window so the person nearest could hear it, and then pointed toward Taeyong to let them know he needed him.

Once Taeyong was told, he gave a thumbs up and grabbed his things, joining Jongin.

“Did he get it?” Taeyong asked, eyes bright in anticipation.

“He did,” Jongin said, doing a cute little jumping move that Taeyong joined in on.

They went to the bathroom to change as well, then met up with Lisa outside so Jongin could give them both directions in case they weren’t sure how to get to the pizza place. Once he was in his own car, Jongin tried to get to the restaurant as quickly as possible.

Jongdae had arrived first and had secured a table for them, so when Jongin finally made it inside, he ran up to him and hugged him, and then they both jumped up and down together.

“I’m so proud of our son,” Jongdae said.

“Me too,” Jongin agreed. “We raised him so well.”

Kyungsoo arrived just moments later and both Jongdae and Jongin pulled him into a tight hug, not caring that they suffocated him. Jongdae insisted that he take a picture of him in that moment to commemorate this great day.

“You guys are weird,” Kyungsoo said, but he smiled for the picture and put up a peace sign anyway.

Lisa and Taeyong arrived right after, both giving Kyungsoo big hugs, and then they all settled in, ready to order, especially the dancers who were starving beyond belief.

“We have to get the bulgogi pizza with the blooming onion on top,” Jongdae demanded, pointing to it on the menu for everyone.

“It’s so good,” Jongin agreed, letting Taeyong know since he’d never been there before, “It has a sweet potato crust.”

“Hey, babe, do you want to get the bulgogi fries?” Jongdae asked Lisa.

“Did you have to ask?” she said, laughing as she leaned into him.

“Can we get the shrimp pizza too?” Kyungsoo asked them, and they all simultaneously told him he could get whatever he wanted.

“I’m going to tell them to put extra shrimp on it for you,” Jongdae stated with a firm nod.

Once they had ordered enough food to feed an army, they settled in for the details, telling Kyungsoo to not leave anything out.

“I was really nervous,” Kyungsoo said, “I said hello to everyone and then the director, the actual director looked me over and then had a conversation with the stylist, and they decided that what I was wearing would be fine for the test.”

“Is this what you wore?” Lisa asked him.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, “I didn’t want to look like a stereotypical gang member, but I did want to give off the essence of one. So I had gone online to see what the ones in this gang wore, and it was like faded jeans that hung low, most of them were shirtless to show off their tattoos, and hi-tops. So I went with these white jeans because I already had them, put them with these FILAs, then just wore a T-shirt. I also brought my baseball cap with me, and I had it looped on my jeans in case I needed it or if they wanted me to wear it.”

“I helped him pick out the outfit,” Jongdae beamed, and Lisa gave him a proud pat on his shoulder.

“So then they introduced me to the guy who’s the lead, who I recognized because he was in that singing Disney show we kept making fun of last year.”

“Oh, that guy?” Jongdae said, surprised. “The one that was considered the bad singer even though he sang better than the lead?”

“Yeah, that guy,” Kyungsoo confirmed, “And I told him that too. He was really nice and joked that it was the hardest acting he had ever had to do.”

They all laughed at that, and then Kyungsoo continued after taking a sip of his soda.

“So then we do a quick rehearsal of the scene, just him and me, and then we do the screen test. I don’t know what came over me, but the moment I got on that camera I just felt so alive. I went straight into the role and afterwards the lead guy said he loved how I reacted to everything.”

“Of course he did,” Jongin nodded, feeling like a proud father all over again.

“Then the director said it was exactly what he was looking for. But then he made me do another scene with one of the leaders of the gang. So here I was having to act opposite this veteran actor dressed in a sharp suit and being super mean. He’s been in Tarantino movies, so he’s like, really seasoned and expert status. And there was this one part where he has to pretend to hit me because I screwed up a drug run, and I legit thought this man was going to hit me. Like his method acting game was that strong.”

Jongin’s eyes widened to match how wide Kyungsoo’s got as he told the story.

“So when he went for it, my head snapped like I had actually been hit,” Kyungsoo explained, “And I gave him this look like I couldn’t believe he had hit me because I honestly thought he had.”

“I’ll run him over next time I see him for scaring you,” Jongdae said, and while Taeyong and Lisa laughed at the comment, Jongin just nodded in solidarity.

“He just kept going,” Kyungsoo said, “Kept doing his lines and telling me that I had one more chance to prove myself. And then the director yelled “cut,” and I was still stunned, but I tried to act normal. And then the veteran guy had a smile on his face and told me I was great, and I flat out told him he scared me. He just laughed and gave me a hug.”

“And that’s when they told you that you got it!” Jongdae said.

“No,” Kyungsoo shook his head, “Then I had to wait. They told me I could go get lunch while they reviewed the footage. So I went to eat, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t really eat, so I just waited for them to call me to come back. When they finally did, I came back and that’s when the director and producer told me that they wanted me for the role. I thanked them, and thanked everyone on the staff, and thanked the other actors, and then went to my car and had a breakdown and called you guys.”

Jongdae applauded saying it was the greatest story he’s ever heard, and Jongin joined in because truly it was. Their Kyungsoo had done it, and he knew this was the first step on a long journey of him fulfilling his acting dreams.

As they ate through their appetizers, Jongin thought to ask him how his parents had reacted.

“They’re excited,” Kyungsoo said, “I scanned the contract and sent it to my parents already because they want to look over it tonight. My dad’s going to send it to his attorney too, but he doesn’t think he’ll hear back on it until Monday.”

“Is it SAG?” Jongin then asked him.

“Oh, yeah, that’s the best part,” Kyungsoo said, getting excited again. “It is. So I’m getting Taft-Hartleyed in.”

“Nice,” Lisa said.

“What does that mean?” Taeyong asked, looking at her.

“It’s when a union job hires a non-union worker,” she explained. “They have to Taft-Hartley them in order to hire them for their project because union films are only allowed to hire union actors.”

“Basically, they loved Kyungsoo so much,” Jongin added. “that they’re willing to fill out the Taft-Hartley paperwork and pay the fee associated with it.”

“And since it’s a speaking role,” Kyungsoo told him, “I only need one waiver to join, so now I’m SAG-eligible, but I’m going to wait to join based on what happens next. Once I join, I can’t work on non-union jobs, which means student films at ‘SC are out of the question, and I want to do a few of those so I can build up rapport with the future filmmakers coming out of the program.”

“So smart,” Lisa nodded.

“Jongin and Lisa are SAG,” Jongdae pointed out to Taeyong. “They’ve been in music videos and stuff.”

“I’m not surprised,” Taeyong told him with a smile.

“I took the same approach as Kyungsoo,” Lisa told him. “I waited to build up my resume a bit more before joining.”

“I’m hoping to join you guys soon,” Taeyong let them know.

“We’ve seen you dance,” Jongin said as he stole one of Lisa’s bulgogi fries, “You will.”

“And you have a great look,” Lisa pointed out to Taeyong.

“Yeah, I kinda want to draw you,” Jongdae let him know, and Taeyong looked confused by that before Kyungsoo explained.

“Jongdae arts, and you’re really good looking,” Kyungsoo said, which turned Taeyong’s confusion into a simple smile. “So, you should let Jongdae draw you.”

“He’s amazing at it,” Lisa said, taking out her phone to show Taeyong a drawing on her screen, “That’s a drawing he did of me.”

“Oh, wow,” Taeyong said, and suddenly his full interest was on Jongdae. “Wait, are you into… do you do animation?”

“Here we go,” Kyungsoo said, chuckling as he dipped a wing into the spicy sauce on the table.

“Um, I hope to,” Jongdae said. “That’s one of my goals. I want to make animated films that Kyungsoo’s going to do the voice acting for.”

“He’s your biggest fan now,” Kyungsoo told Jongdae.

“I love animation,” Taeyong explained, a little shyly, and Jongin thought again about what a great choice Taeyong had been for Kyungsoo. Really, he had exceeded even his own expectations, and Jongin gave himself a mental pat on the back.

When their pizzas came out, they got more details from Kyungsoo about when he’d be filming.

“Mid-May, right after final exams, which means I won’t be able to get out of them,” Kyungsoo pouted.

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell your parents you were quitting right this second,” Jongdae said.

“I wanted to, but I already knew they were going to say that I should wait to see what comes out of this first,” Kyungsoo sighed.

“Which means you get more time with me before I lose you to the real world like I lost Jongin,” Jongdae pointed out as a bunch of toppings fell off his pizza while he was holding it. He happily scooped it all back up on to the slice and took a huge bite.

“I mean, I guess I should finish out a full year of college,” Kyungsoo played along. “Just to say I gave it a real try and still discovered it wasn’t for me.”

“You’re on track to drop out before Baekhyun does,” Jongin joked, and Kyungsoo looked proud of this possibility.

“I like how you’re all going to leave me alone in college to fend for myself,” Jongdae lamented.

“You’ll be alright,” Kyungsoo said with a wave, and Jongdae threw a fried onion at him.

Jongdae would be, and so would Kyungsoo. Jongin couldn’t help but be overcome by a warm feeling as they continued to eat and talk. He always knew that they would all make their dreams come true. All three of them had been pretty good about following through on their talents, never shying away from both showing off and improving by participating in events that forced them to get better at what they loved to do. They were driven, and they were committed, and Jongin couldn’t wait for the day that they achieved all the success that they wanted to.


	22. Chapter 22

Chanyeol had promised Nayeon that he’d take her on a real date, but since he had never been on a real date before, he didn’t know exactly what he had meant by that. He assumed dinner and a movie made the most sense, but Baekhyun had told him that just dinner would be fine for the first date.

“You don’t want to commit yourself to spending more time with her than you have to if it doesn’t work out,” Baekhyun had explained, and Chanyeol thought he made a good point.

So instead, he had made dinner reservations at Perch because Jisoo said there wasn’t a girl who wouldn’t love having a date there.

He waited outside the gate of Nayeon’s apartment complex and hoped she liked how he looked in the button-down shirt and slacks that Jisoo had put together for him. When Nayeon came out of her building, he tried to clear the nervousness from his throat and said “hi” to her, handing her the flowers he had bought her. Nayeon took them with a smile and gave him a hug as she said, “thanks.” He thought she looked cute in her black dress that had a yellow and pink flower print. Her heels made her an even more perfect height for him, which he appreciated. Like a true gentleman, he opened the door for her, and he mentally checked it off the verbal list Baekhyun had given him.

Chanyeol tried hard to keep his cool during the car ride, but he couldn’t help the little beads of sweat forming on his forehead from the nervousness. Nayeon asked him about his day and told him about how her day had gone too, and he was grateful that she seemed to have plenty to say, taking off the pressure of him having to come up with conversation starters as well.

Perch was located downtown, and he managed to find metered parking just a block away and hoped Nayeon didn’t mind walking too much. She didn’t say anything about it, which he took as a good sign that she was okay with it.

Once they were in the right building, they were escorted to a secret elevator, which took them up to the rooftop restaurant that Jisoo claimed was by far her favorite in LA. After Chanyeol gave his name for the reservation, they were immediately seated and given menus.

“I’ve always wanted to eat here,” Nayeon said, seeming just as pleased as Jisoo said she’d be. “My friends and I keep saying we will, but we never manage to coordinate it.”

“Me too,” Chanyeol said, though he hadn’t even heard of the place until Jisoo had mentioned it. “I hear you can’t go wrong with anything you order.”

“I’ve heard that too,” Nayeon said with a big smile. It was the one that reminded him of Kyungsoo, and he had the super odd thought of how fun it would be to bring Kyungsoo here to eat as well.

Chanyeol looked over the menu, and then he thought to ask, “Did you want to share an appetizer?”

“Sure,” she said. “I’m guessing that, unlike at the party for your friend, we can’t order alcohol here.”

Chanyeol chuckled and shook his head, “Yeah, I sadly don’t have Jennie’s gift for pulling strings like that.”

“I seriously want to be her when I grow up,” Nayeon said, and Chanyeol gave her a weird look.

“No, you don’t,” he said instead. “You want to be an incredible investigative reporter instead. With a cool name you came up with yourself.”

Nayeon seemed to like that he said this because she was smiling even more and nodding at him in agreement, but she seemed to want to continue the topic, further proving that she indeed was a fan of Jennie’s even if she didn’t consider herself to be one.

“I still can’t believe she followed me on Instagram that night,” Nayeon said, “She ended up being a lot nicer in person than I thought she would be.”

“She is a very nice person,” Chanyeol had to admit. “I bet your sorority sisters are jealous now.”

“They were so jealous,” Nayeon said with a chuckle. “We call her Queen Jennie in the house because she’s who we all wish we could be.”

“It’s so weird,” Chanyeol said, not understanding this hero-worshipping of Jennie at all.

“You wouldn’t get it,” Nayeon waved off. “We live in a society where girls are expected to fit a beauty standard that those of us who aren’t white can never reach. But Jennie is one of us. And if she recommends an outfit or skincare or lip gloss, you know that it’s going to look good on people who look like us. People who aren’t white and blonde. You know?”

Chanyeol did understand that at least, and he gave her a nod and said, “Yeah. I get it. Jisoo has that problem in her sorority where everyone is white and blonde.”

“She’s the token,” Nayeon nodded. “I give her credit for putting herself in that situation. I never would. Society makes us feel like a token enough. I’d rather be in a sorority where I could feel more comfortable being me.”

“Yeah, Jisoo has always had a strong sense of self,” Chanyeol said, defending his best friend in a way. “So she didn’t have a problem putting herself in that situation, but I get what you mean.”

“Hm,” Nayeon said, maybe taking that first bit as a criticism, but he actually admired that Jisoo never took the easy and most comfortable paths to get to where she wanted to go.

“Which appetizer are you thinking about?” he then asked her to get them off that topic.

“Can we do the baked brie?”

“Of course,” he said with a big smile. “I was eyeing that one too.” He wasn’t, but he thought it’d be better to pretend that he had been.

They put in their appetizer order and then Chanyeol struggled to figure out what he should bring up as a topic instead. Luckily Nayeon seemed to have topics of discussion ready.

“What do you do now that you’re not practicing basketball all day?” she asked him first.

“Focus on my music projects for class,” he replied.

“Oh, how fun. Can you believe we’re only a month and a half away from finals?”

“It’s crazy,” he agreed. “This year has gone by kind of fast.”

“Faster than freshman year did,” she agreed.

“Yeah, that’s true,” he said, thinking about it. He couldn’t believe that he was only about four months away from starting his junior year. “Before you know it, we’ll be graduating.”

“I need to pick a name soon then,” she joked, and he laughed. “Do you have plans for the summer?”

“Not any in particular,” he said with a small shrug. “I’m sure my parents have a family trip planned, but outside of that, I’ll probably just hang out at the beach with my friends. What about you?”

“I usually go back home to Michigan to spend time with my family over the summer, but this year a couple of my sorority sisters have been thinking of doing a trip. So we might go to Bali.”

“Bali’s really nice,” Chanyeol nodded.

“You’ve been?”

“Yeah, my mom made us all go for a family trip there a couple of times. She really likes it.”

“Where else have you been?”

“All over,” Chanyeol admitted, “My mom really loves to travel, and my dad travels a lot for business because he has real estate in different countries, so we travel around a lot.”

“What’s your favorite place you’ve been to?” Nayeon asked, sipping her water and watching him, her eyes alternating between surprised and impressed.

“Hm,” Chanyeol said, trying to think of what place he had liked best. Usually his favorite part of traveling was coming home to his own bed. “Japan’s really cool,” he said, and nodded, thinking this sounded like the right answer. “Probably Japan.”

“I want to go there too someday,” Nayeon said. “I’ve only ever been to Korea and Taiwan in Asia. And I’ve been to London and Paris. But that’s about it. Oh, and Canada.”

“You said you wanted to study abroad before,” Chanyeol remembered. “Where do you want to study?”

“Of the five options that Annenberg offers for journalism majors, I’m debating between Sydney and Hong Kong.”

“Both sound cool,” Chanyeol said, thinking studying abroad sounded like something Sehun would probably want to do while in college. “When would you do it?”

“Spring semester of my junior year. So next year.”

“That’s a horrible time to go,” Chanyeol said, and Nayeon looked at him concerned, “That’s right in the middle of my basketball season.”

Nayeon relaxed and laughed, but then pointed out, “You’ll be too busy playing basketball to pay attention to me, so it’s the perfect time.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Chanyeol said, thinking she did have a point.

Their server came back to ask them if they knew what they wanted for dinner and to let them know their brie would be right out. Chanyeol ordered the steak frites while Nayeon ordered the scallops, and after the server left, she said she wondered if the rabbit ravioli really meant that there was rabbit in the ravioli.

“I think so,” Chanyeol said, “do you want to try it?”

“No,” Nayeon said, “I can’t even imagine eating a rabbit. They’re so cute.”

“Chickens are cute,” Chanyeol pointed out.

“Not as cute as rabbits,” Nayeon insisted, and Chanyeol chuckled.

Their brie was brought out to them and they both tried it immediately and deemed it perfect, and then he remembered that Baekhyun had told him to make sure and compliment her throughout the night because girls liked that kind of thing, so he decided to say, “You’re cuter than a rabbit,” and realized just how dumb that sounded right after it left his mouth.

“Thanks?” she said, looking at him unsure.

“I just meant, in the hierarchy of chicken and rabbit, you’re way cuter.” Nope, that hadn’t made it better, and Chanyeol shoved a fork full of the dough-wrapped baked brie in his mouth.

Nayeon smiled, probably at a loss for what to say, and then said, “Thanks,” again, which was very polite of her considering.

She switched the subject to safe things, like what kind of TV shows he liked to watch and what was his favorite music, and while nothing substantial was said, it was clear that they liked similar types of things without liking exactly the same things.

All in all, it was a nice date, and Nayeon insisted that they take a picture with the downtown skyline behind them before they left. She sent him the picture, and he thought that they looked pretty nice together and mentioned that, which she seemed to think as well.

When it was time to drop her back off, Chanyeol walked her to her gate as she took her keycard out. He knew that something was supposed to happen at this juncture, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. Was she expecting a kiss from him? Was she going to invite him in? Did he even want to be invited in?

“Thanks for dinner tonight,” she said to him, once she had her keycard in hand. “I had fun.”

“I did too,” Chanyeol said. “Maybe we should do it again.”

“Okay,” she said, quicker than he expected, and for some reason, that caught Chanyeol by surprise.

“Okay,” he said, and then silence passed between them, and he got the impression she was waiting for him to say or do something. Why wasn’t Baekhyun there to tell him what to do next?

He should probably kiss her. Okay, he was going to kiss her. He could do that.

He leaned in a bit, and she looked up at him, much how Kyungsoo would do, and he thought she looked even cuter than compared to the entire night. He managed to get his lips on hers and pressed against them with just enough pressure to make it into a kiss, and then he pulled away, feeling like he probably screwed that up.

“Okay,” he said again, noticing that she looked a little expectant and confused. “So, I’ll text you and we’ll decide when the next date is.”

“Okay,” she said, now looking more confused than expectant.

“Okay,” he said again. “Be safe,” he said, taking a few steps back.

“Okay,” Nayeon said. “You too.”

“Okay,” he said, and he put his hand up as a goodbye then turned around, thinking he couldn’t get back into his car fast enough.

He held a tight grip on his steering wheel the entire few blocks to the parking garage by his dorm, and before getting out, he let out several large breaths, needing to not freak out about how he had probably done that all wrong.

Why couldn’t he be a natural at this the way that Baekhyun was? Baekhyun would just meet a girl one moment and be in bed with her the next. How?

As he headed to his dorm room, he couldn’t help himself from becoming emotional about it. Everything about the night seemed to have gone nicely, and she had seemed really happy about everything for the most part. They even had taken a picture together, which had to be a sign that things went well. So why did he feel like the entire night had been a failure?

Once inside his room, he got out of his clothes and changed into some pajama pants and a tee, getting into bed and hoping he could will himself to go straight to sleep so he wasn’t tossing and turning all night about this.

And then a text popped up from Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol instantly forgot all about Nayeon as he read it.

_Kyungsoo: Are you awake? Can I call you right now?_

_Chanyeol: Yeah! I’m awake. Call!_

This was exactly the distraction he needed from worrying about how the date had ended, and he was once again glad that the universe was looking out for him.

As soon as his phone rang, he picked it up and greeted Kyungsoo.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo said back, “I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

“Nope, I had just crawled into bed. What’s up?”

“I got the part.”

Chanyeol sat straight up in his bed, knowing he had heard him correctly but needing to hear him say it again, “What?”

“I got the part,” Kyungsoo said, following it with a soft chuckle.

“Oh my God!” Chanyeol said, “Oh my God! Congrats! Holy shit. You’re going to be a movie star now!”

“Not yet,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol swore he could see the smile on his face. “Soon though.”

“Wow, congrats,” Chanyeol said again, “When do you start filming?”

“Conveniently for my parents, we start the week after finals.”

“Wow. That’s not that far away. Wow. Oh my God. How happy are you right now?”

“I’m… I can’t even process it. Like it’s really happening.”

“It’s really happening,” Chanyeol nodded, and he wished he was with Kyungsoo so he could give him the biggest hug. “Wait, did you find out if you get to shoot a gun?”

“Yeah, I do,” Kyungsoo said.

“That’s hot,” Chanyeol said, and then his eyes widened as he realized how that had sounded, “I mean cool. That’s really cool.” Oh my God, what was wrong with him tonight? Why couldn’t he say anything right tonight?

“Yeah, it is,” Kyungsoo said, after a moment of silence, “But that’s not the coolest part. Do you know what is?”

Chanyeol was grateful that he hadn’t killed the conversation with his weird comment and asked, “What?”

“You can’t tell anyone this because I want it to be a surprise if the movie actually gets released and seen.”

“Cross my heart, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I get to die,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol waited for the rest of the sentence and realized it wasn’t coming.

“Wait what?”

“My character dies in the movie.”

“Holy shit,” Chanyeol said. “That’s awful.”

“No, it’s cool,” Kyungsoo said with a chuckle. “I’m so excited to shoot that scene.”

“You’re crazy,” Chanyeol said, laughing heartily because only Kyungsoo would think dying in a movie was cool.

“I am, but that’s why you like me,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol nodded before he even replied.

“True,” Chanyeol said. “I can’t believe this though. I’m going to go insane watching this movie. Wait, where do you die though? Because if it’s early on, I’ll just leave.”

Kyungsoo genuinely laughed at the question, and Chanyeol loved that sound so much. He lay back down, getting comfortable again as he listened to Kyungsoo’s voice.

“It’s not early. It’s toward the end, but not the very end, so you’ll be invested enough to stay for the rest of it. I think.”

“Okay, as long as you’re mostly in it.”

“I’m in it a lot for a side character,” he confirmed, “unless my scenes end up on the cutting room floor.”

“Impossible,” Chanyeol stated. “If anything, they’ll decide halfway through that they really should have made the movie about you and re-do the whole thing so you’re the lead.”

“Yeah, right,” Kyungsoo said, and Chanyeol could hear him shifting as if he too had decided to lay down in his bed. “I just hope I don’t screw this up somehow.”

“You couldn’t possibly. I’ve never seen you act, but I know you’re great at it.”

“I’m the actor version of your basketball player alter ego.”

“You’re the Troy Bolton to my… Troy Bolton,” Chanyeol said, realizing his _High School Musical_ reference didn’t work out as intended, but Kyungsoo seemed to really like the comparison anyway based on his laugh.

“I was obsessed with that movie when I was a little kid,” Kyungsoo confessed, and Chanyeol’s heart skipped a beat.

“Me too,” he said, loving that they had that random thing in common. “One of my first remixes that I ever tried to do was for ‘We’re All in this Together’ and it was awesome.”

“No, shut up,” Kyungsoo chuckled again. “I have to hear it.”

“I have it up on my SoundCloud.”

“What? Wait, you have a SoundCloud?”

“Yeah, but it’s private right now. I always put it on private during season so it’s not a distraction. I should probably make it public again now.”

“You should probably send me the link once you do.”

“I will,” Chanyeol promised.

“Was that your favorite song from the series?” Kyungsoo asked him.

“I think so. I drove my mom crazy running around the house as a little kid and singing it. I tried to do the choreography to it as well but couldn’t quite get it.”

“One summer,” Kyungsoo said, “Jongin spent each week trying to learn and teach us the choreo to a lot of the songs. He was good at it. Jongdae and I, not so much.”

Chanyeol could imagine them as kids doing this, and it made him wish he had known them back then.

“What was your favorite song from the series?” Chanyeol then asked him back.

“I Want It All from HSM3,” Kyungsoo stated, and Chanyeol busted out laughing. “I was a huge Sharpay fan,” Kyungsoo explained.

“Really?” Chanyeol said. “I liked Troy and Chad. Probably because they were basketball players.”

“Makes sense,” Kyungsoo said. “Sharpay was the actor, so that’s probably why I liked her. Plus, she was fierce.”

“Is that how you’re going to be on set?” Chanyeol snickered, “Walking around with a little dog while wearing a tiara and having posters of yourself up in your dressing room?”

“I’m having all of that written into my contract,” Kyungsoo joked back

Chanyeol laughed even more and remarked, “Now I want to listen to that stupid soundtrack.”

“I have it on my Spotify.”

“Of course you do,” Chanyeol said, too amused by this.

“Hold on,” Kyungsoo said, and then Chanyeol heard shifting, rustling, and shuffling, and then more of the same before typing was added to it. Then after a moment, “Start of Something New,” started playing, and Chanyeol laughed again.

“Like how dumb was this premise?” Chanyeol pointed out, “They literally didn’t know each other, but happened to be picked to do karaoke, happened to know all the lyrics and runs after Troy said he didn’t know the song, and then bam, they’re in the same school in another state.”

“It sounds kind of like us,” Kyungsoo mused, “Minus the karaoke part. But I saw you play basketball in high school, and then out of nowhere, we ended up in class in college together.”

“That’s… a good point,” Chanyeol realized, and then his heart sped up as Kyungsoo started singing along to the song. Chanyeol hadn’t known how badly he had needed to hear him sing again until this moment.

“ _Now who’d have ever thought that, we’d both be here tonight? Yeah, and the world looks so much brighter, with you by my side_ ,” Kyungsoo sang, and Chanyeol felt like he was in a perfect dream.

“We never did get to do karaoke,” Chanyeol pointed out, wishing now that they had. It had been his fault for not reacting that great to Kyungsoo’s confession about being gay, and now he pouted at the idea that he had wasted weeks of possible moments just like this.

“Maybe we can go soon,” Kyungsoo mentioned before belting out the chorus, “ _This could be the start of something new, it feels so right to be here with you, ooooh_.”

Chanyeol let out a cackle at the run, but then joined in and sang along to the rest of the chorus, “ _And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart the start of something new._ ”

“Jongdae’s going to kill me if I wake him up,” Kyungsoo then said.

“That’s why you should live alone like I do,” Chanyeol pointed out. “Man, I hope your next movie is a musical. You would kill it.”

“Ha, I don’t know about that,” Kyungsoo said humbly, but Chanyeol knew he would.

As the next song started, Chanyeol got excited all over again, “Oh, this was the basketball song. I remember liking this one.”

They shared fun anecdotes about their lives as each song came on. 

“Oh, I hated this song,” Kyungsoo mentioned as “Stick to the Status Quo” came on. “Even as a little kid, I knew that I wasn’t part of the status quo.”

“They were so mean to Troy and Gabriela,” Chanyeol agreed.

“‘Bop to the Top’ was my jam,” Kyungsoo said with excitement.

“Of course it was, you Sharpay stan,” Chanyeol teased him.

And on and on until they had somehow gotten through all three albums and it was almost four in the morning.

“Oh crap, I have to get some sleep,” Kyungsoo said, realizing the time first. “I have to drive to my parents’ this morning. I’m going to be so screwed.”

“Hit up the Starbucks drive-through as your first stop,” Chanyeol suggested.

“Yeah, no kidding. Okay, Troy, good night,” Kyungsoo said with a yawn.

Chanyeol laughed and said, “Good night, Troy,” back to him.

He hung up and was too wired by the night, replaying back almost all of their phone conversation and commentary during the songs. While he was playing back in his mind their slight argument about Sharpay’s solo number that got cut from the original version of HSM 2, Chanyeol calling it awful and Kyungsoo calling it a misunderstood masterpiece, Chanyeol finally fell asleep.

***

He woke up that same morning at almost noon to the buzzing of his phone vibrating beside him on his bed. He looked to see that he had a ton of missed texts and messages from both Baekhyun and Jisoo. It was Baekhyun who was currently calling, and he picked up.

“Hello?” he said, his voice still groggy as he yawned.

“Dude, are you still sleeping?” Baekhyun asked, and then, “Did the night go that well?”

It had gone amazingly well, and Chanyeol almost answered with that when he realized what he was really asking about.

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, blinking his eyes awake, “Oh, the date.”

“Yeah, the date,” Baekhyun said.

“Yeah, it was fine.”

There was a momentary pause of silence, and then Baekhyun said, “Just fine? Then why are you still asleep? Jisoo and I have been waiting to do brunch with you so we can hear all the details.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, stretching out his arm that wasn’t holding his phone. “Where do you want to meet up?”

“Well we ended up already eating because we were starving and couldn’t wait for you any longer, but we’re up in Westwood, come join us and tell us all about your crazy night.”

Chanyeol managed to get himself together enough after a quick shower, and he headed over to Westwood, the surrounding area where the UCLA campus was nestled. Chanyeol always had slight neighborhood envy when he visited UCLA since unlike USC, which was in a not-so-great area, UCLA was surrounded by hills and million-dollar homes adjacent to Beverly Hills.

Also unlike USC, UCLA’s campus was way too large and was very hilly, so he got an impromptu workout trying to get from the parking lot to Jisoo’s dorm building where Baekhyun and Jisoo were waiting outside for him after he texted that he had arrived.

“Hey,” Jisoo said to him first, giving him a hug, “You look like you just woke up.”

“I did,” Chanyeol whined, and then he hugged Baekhyun in greeting.

They walked down the hill from the dorms, cutting through the UCLA sports complex area to make their way toward the campus center. They found a nice, shaded spot to sit in near the Powell Library.

“I’m never complaining about walking from the dorm to my classes again,” Chanyeol said as he sat on the blanket Jisoo had placed down on the grass for them.

“Says the most in-shape person on campus,” Baekhyun joked, sitting beside him and stretching legs out as he leaned back on his hands, taking in the sun.

“We all know Yeollie immediately stops being in shape once the season ends,” Jisoo teased, shaking his leg, and Chanyeol groaned, but knew it was true. He really had just stopped going to the gym now that he had no reason to.

“Sooo,” Baekhyun said, “How’d it go?”

“It was nice,” Chanyeol said, not sure how else to explain it.

“So not that great,” Jisoo interpreted as she put her hair up into a ponytail.

“No, it was fine,” Chanyeol said, not wanting them to get the wrong idea. “We went to dinner at Perch like you suggested, we split the baked brie for the appetizer, I got the steak and she got the scallops for dinner, and then we took a picture together with the city lights behind us, then I took her home and walked her to the gate of her apartments, and then I gave her a kiss, and then I left.”

“You gave her a kiss?” Baekhyun asked to confirm.

“What kind of kiss?” Jisoo followed him, “And what was her reaction to the kiss?”

“I don’t know, just a regular kiss,” Chanyeol shrugged, thinking the sun was making his cheeks really warm all of a sudden.

“A peck?” Baekhyun asked. “Was there tongue?”

“No, just a peck,” Chanyeol confirmed, hoping they’d stop this line of questioning.

“And her reaction?” Jisoo asked again.

“I mean…” Chanyeol furrowed his brows. “I don’t know. We said we’d set up our next date, and I waved bye to her and left.”

“She didn’t try and deepen the kiss?” Baekhyun asked.

“No?” Chanyeol said.

“She didn’t ask you to go back to her place with her?” Jisoo asked though the look on her face seemed to already know the answer.

“No,” Chanyeol said, shaking his head. “It was a nice date.”

Baekhyun and Jisoo exchanged a look and both pursed their lips a little in thought.

“What?” Chanyeol asked them.

“Nothing,” Baekhyun said. “It sounds like it went nice. So you guys are going on a second date?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, looking at his phone as if the date would magically appear on it. “We haven’t set it up yet. But this time I should add the movie, right?”

“Do you actually like this girl?” Jisoo asked him.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, not sure why she would ask it like that. “I mean, she’s really nice, and we had a nice date.”

“If you say the word ‘nice’ one more time…” Jisoo threatened, letting out a sigh.

“It’s fine,” Baekhyun said, motioning with his hand for Jisoo to calm down while smiling at Chanyeol. “We’ll see how the second date goes. Add a movie to the dinner and see what happens.”

Chanyeol shrugged and nodded, thinking that’s what he was going to do anyway, but then his brows furrowed again.

“It was okay that I kissed her on the first date, right?” Chanyeol asked them.

“More than okay,” Baekhyun said with a smile. “Usually a kiss means the date went well.”

“Oh, okay,” Chanyeol said with a smile. “Then it went well.”

Baekhyun pat him on the shoulder, but Jisoo still looked annoyed for some reason, so Chanyeol decided to switch the topic.

“Hey, so did you guys hear about Kyungsoo?”

“He got the part!” Baekhyun said with an excited fist pump. “Jongdae texted me as soon as he found out. Our little movie star. They grow up so fast.”

“Yeah, he called me last night to tell me, and I couldn’t stop smiling about it,” Chanyeol agreed. Then he started thinking about their conversation after that, and he smiled even wider.

“Clearly,” Jisoo said, “since you’re still smiling about it.”

“No, it’s not that,” Chanyeol chuckled. “It was just that after we talked about that, we somehow got on the topic of _High School Musical_ , and we ended up on the phone until four in the morning listening to all three soundtracks and singing along. Kyungsoo has the best voice. I honestly love hearing him sing.”

He looked at both of his friends to laugh with them, thinking they were going to laugh at him for this, but instead, they both had the same look on their faces as they looked at him, then looked at each other, then looked back at him again.

“What?” Chanyeol asked.

“So, let me get this straight,” Jisoo said, and Baekhyun shook his head at her. “No, I’m going to ask this,” she told him, then looked back at Chanyeol. “You took Nayeon on a date, it was nice, you gave her a kiss, and left. Then went home and talked with Kyungsoo until four in the morning while the two of you sang along to _High School Musical_ songs?”

“Yeah?” Chanyeol said, not sure why this was a problem.

“So, on a scale of 1 to 10,” Jisoo continued, looking like she was thinking of how to prove something, “How would you rate your date with Nayeon?”

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol shrugged, “Like a 7 or 8? I’ve never really gone on a date, so I don’t know what to compare it to.”

“On a scale of 1 to 10,” Jisoo then said, “How would you rate your phone call with Kyungsoo afterwards?”

Chanyeol looked surprised by this, but then he smiled again, not able to stop himself, so he went ahead and answered, “That was like a 10. But I mean, come on, we were singing HSM songs. It was fun.”

Baekhyun nodded and said, “He has a point,” and Jisoo cocked her head at him as if she needed him to be on the same page as him at the moment, though what that page was, Chanyeol wasn’t sure.

“If you liked Nayeon,” Jisoo then said to him, “Then that’s what it would have felt like. Like how you felt when you were on the phone with Kyungsoo.”

“But that’s different,” Chanyeol said. “Kyungsoo’s my friend. Obviously, I’m going to feel more comfortable around him than her.”

“Okay,” Jisoo said with a nod. “So you don’t feel comfortable around Nayeon yet. That’s fair. You’ve hung out with her only twice. How comfortable did you feel around Kyungsoo after hanging out with him twice?”

It slowly dawned on Chanyeol that whatever point Jisoo was trying to make had a lot to do with Kyungsoo and how he acted around him, and now Chanyeol refused to answer because whatever was going through her head seemed like something he wasn’t going to like.

“Let it go,” Baekhyun said to Jisoo, as if maybe he had sensed Chanyeol’s realization.

“I just want him to be honest with himself,” Jisoo said back to him.

“That’s not your call,” Baekhyun told her. “If Chanyeol feels that he needs another date or so to feel comfortable enough with Nayeon and see if he really likes her, then he can go on as many dates as he wants.”

Chanyeol was staring at the grass in front of him, trying to not hear them talk about him, but unable to stop the words from entering his ears. They thought he liked Kyungsoo more than Nayeon, and it sounded like they thought he liked him in the same way that he was trying to like Nayeon.

And then Chanyeol thought about how during their dinner, he kept thinking about Kyungsoo and wishing he was the one hanging out with him instead. But that’s all it was, wasn’t it? Just wanting to hang out with a friend?

“Hey,” Baekhyun said, putting his hand on Chanyeol’s arm to get his attention back on them. “Don’t listen to Jisoo.”

Chanyeol looked up at Jisoo though because he had listened, and he got where she was going with this. So he took a breath and then asked her, “Do you think I’m gay?”

Jisoo seemed to consider the question, then carefully said, “I don’t know, but what I do think is that you’re attracted to Kyungsoo in that way.”

“Then you think I’m gay,” Chanyeol said, reading between the lines.

“You could be bi,” Jisoo said, “Like Baek. Or you could just be Kyungsoo-sexual. I don’t know. But what I do know is that you light up every single time you talk about him like you have the hugest crush on him. And I wish you would just admit it and accept it because…”

Chanyeol swallowed, wanting to both scream and cry and tell her she was the worst friend ever, but instead he asked, “Because?”

Jisoo sighed and said, “Because it makes you so happy to be with him. And you deserve to be happy, and I don’t know why you won’t accept it so that you can just be happy.”

Whatever Chanyeol felt in that moment wasn’t a good feeling, and he realized it was some weird mixture of anger, sadness, and fear. He said nothing and tried to hold it together, taking short breaths to keep his emotions from spilling out.

“Yeol,” Baekhyun said with a gentle tone, “No one can tell you who you are. Jisoo doesn’t know. I don’t know. Only you know. But we do want you to be happy. If you’re straight and just not into Nayeon, then there are tons of other sorority girls I can hook you up with. Her sorority sister Jihyo is super cute. You know, maybe you’d like Jihyo actually…”

This definitely didn’t feel good. Whatever it was. Chanyeol pushed himself up from the blanket and started walking back toward the direction they came. He needed to get away from Jisoo and Baekhyun. He needed to get back into his car and head back to his dorm where he could cry about whatever it was that he was feeling.

“Hey,” Baekhyun said, catching up to him and trying to keep up with his pace. “Yeol, it’s okay. Don’t listen to Jisoo. Really.”

“Fuck that,” Jisoo said, also catching up to them and grabbing Chanyeol’s forearm to stop him abruptly.

Chanyeol felt off-balanced by the act, but he stopped and pulled his arm away from her.

“You can be mad at me all you want for being honest with you,” Jisoo said to him, and her tone felt like he was being scolded. “But I am not going to allow you to act this way because someone thinks you might be gay. There’s nothing wrong with being gay, and you being all huffy and puffy about it is super disrespectful to Baek.”

“Please don’t bring me into this,” Baekhyun said, his eyes begging her to stop.

“I am definitely bringing you into this,” Jisoo said, and then she looked back at Chanyeol. “So what if someone thinks you’re gay? If you’re not, then say you’re not. But acting like it’s the worst thing in the world is so disrespectful to your best friend who is not straight. Neither of us cares if you are or you aren’t, but you say one thing and do another. Maybe you like girls and boys. Maybe you’re bi like Baek. So what, Chanyeol? So what?”

Chanyeol didn’t want Baekhyun to think he was disrespecting him, but he also couldn’t explain his feelings at the moment, so he felt it best to turn back around and keep walking without saying anything.

This time neither Baekhyun nor Jisoo caught up to him to try and stop him, and he headed straight to his car and banged his head against his steering wheel a few times as tears started to finally fall. He really didn’t know what he felt, but he knew that above all, what he thought he most felt was frustration.

He didn’t end up driving back to the dorms after all. Instead, he drove home since he was halfway there anyway. He figured being back at home would ground him and make everything make sense again, and once he got there, he found that no one was home, which was perfect.

Once he was inside his home, he headed to the fridge and found one of his dad’s beers, taking it with him outside and down the steps that lead down to the beach. He sat on the sand, and as he drank and stared out at the ocean, he thought about how he had gone to bed so happy and now was miserable.

What if he was actually gay? Would that explain why he’d never gone on a date or even really wanted to? But he found girls attractive. He knew he did. He didn’t find boys attractive like that. But then again, he did think Kyungsoo was cute, and he definitely thought Kyungsoo’s best friend Jongin was really attractive but in a way where he thought it would have been kind of nice to have been born looking like him. Did that make him gay?

This was all so confusing, and he rubbed his hand over his face, trying to figure out what he was supposed to really think about all this. Of course, he didn’t have an issue with Baekhyun being bi. And he really hoped Baekhyun wasn’t offended by his reaction to being accused of being gay. He hoped he could understand where he was coming from. He’d have to talk to him later when things made more sense in his mind.

Though suddenly, he had a feeling that things might never make any sense.


	23. Chapter 23

Jongin had tried to get some encouragement from Kyungsoo and Jongdae regarding how to stay calm while Jennie met his family for the first time, but unfortunately for him, Jongdae was stuck with more church things than he could handle since Easter was the following weekend and Kyungsoo was still in celebration mood with his family. So instead, Jongin tried to keep his mind off everything by making sure that the place was spotless, especially his room since he was sure she was going to want to see his childhood bedroom at some point.

“Riley, stop chasing your sister,” Jonghee scolded her son. Jongin’s nephew screamed at the top of his lungs while running after his big sister, Rain.

Jongin helped her put the gimbap rolls on the table that she had been carrying, and she thanked him then went to scold Riley again.

“This is why I don’t have kids,” June said, fixing the place settings.

“Do I need to sit with them?” Jonghee’s husband said, coming in from the backyard where he had been grilling meats with Jongin’s father.

“No, it’s good that they get their energy out now,” Jonghee said, waving him off.

Jongin’s phone buzzed and he looked at it to see a text from Jennie saying she was only five minutes away. His stomach flipped, and he texted back that he’d wait for her outside.

“Jennie’s almost here,” Jongin announced to the family, “I’m going to wait for her outside.”

“Good, food’s almost ready,” his mother said from the kitchen.

Jongin felt the tension leave his shoulders once he was out in the fresh air, away from all the sounds going on in his home. His ultimate hope was that everyone was nice to Jennie and any opinions that weren’t positive would be saved for after she had left. He was only worried because his family was really overprotective of him, and sometimes they didn’t know how to hold back.

Jennie parked on the street in front of the house, where Jongin had directed her to, and he gave her a hug as soon as she got out of her car.

“Yay, you’re here,” Jongin said, giving her a little squeeze.

“I am,” Jennie said, and she looked nervous, which was rare and made her look younger in a way he hadn’t expected. “Do I look okay?”

Of course she looked more than okay. She had picked out a pretty blue dress and had her hair in waves with a matching blue headband. He thought it was cute that she was going for the girl next door look, and he told her, “More than okay.”

She had bags and boxes and flowers that he helped her bring inside, and he put them on the credenza in the living space near the kitchen, announcing to his family that Jennie was there.

Rain and Riley ran by them to jump on the couch, which brought Jonghee in right after them, telling them to get off the couch if they couldn’t sit on it properly.

“That’s my sister, Jonghee, and her two kids, Rain and Riley,” he told Jennie, who was watching with the smile of someone who was watching something whimsical.

“Hi, nice to finally meet you,” Jonghee said, giving her a hug in greeting and then taking her in. “Of course, you’re gorgeous. Out little Nini has always had great taste.”

“Can we please not call me that while she’s here,” Jongin said, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed.

“I love when people call you that,” Jennie mentioned after she had told Jonghee that it was nice to meet her as well. “Every time Jongdae or Kyungsoo call you that, I think it’s so cute.”

“See? Stop being embarrassed about your real name,” Jonghee said to Jongin, and he closed his eyes, cringing for what would be the first of probably many times that night.

“Your kids are so cute,” Jennie said to her, and Jonghee waved the sentiment off.

“They’re cute when they’re behaving,” Jonghee said, and Jongin heard his mother call for her.

Jongin motioned for them to follow Jonghee into the kitchen where his mother was ladling soup into bowls and June was helping take them to the table.

“Can you get the rice?” his mother asked Jonghee.

“Mom, June, this is Jennie,” Jongin said. “This is my mom and the middle child.”

“So nice to meet you,” June said, greeting Jennie with a hug.

“Oh, look at you,” his mother then said, dropping the ladle so she could come over to hug Jennie as well. “It’s so good to meet you in person.”

“I’m so excited to meet you guys as well,” Jennie said. “I brought you some gifts.”

“That’s so nice of you,” his mother said. “Let me finish with the soup and then we can open them.”

Jongin then took Jennie to the backyard to introduce her to his father and brother-in-law, both also greeting her and telling her it was great to meet her. When they came back inside, Jongin felt he needed to apologize for all the noise and activity.

“Sorry it’s so crazy,” he told her, as Rain ran around them and then crawled under the dining table.

“It’s great,” Jennie said, watching Rain with a big smile, “I love this. I’m an only child. I’ve never had this much activity in my house growing up.”

“You were blessed,” Jongin told her. “Come on, let’s go help my sister set the table.”

They got the bowls of soup and rice onto the table, which were soon joined by bulgogi, kalbi, and small plates of banchan, along with plates of gimbap, bowls of kimchi, and platters of mini scallion pancakes. A lot of it his mother had ordered from one of their restaurants, but the soup was her specialty, and Jongin was looking forward to eating his bowl.

Jennie passed out the presents as everyone joined the table, giving the flowers to his mother first and then individual presents to each family member present, including Rain and Riley, who immediately ripped off the wrapping paper to their presents once they got their hands on them.

“This is beautiful,” Jongin’s mother said as she looked at the necklace that Jennie had bought her. “You didn’t have to. Thank you so much.”

“Mommy,” Rain said, giving Jonghee the Barbie doll box she had unwrapped, “Open!”

“Ooh look how pretty,” Jonghee said, “Did you thank Jennie for this?”

“Thank you,” Rain said, even though she was looking at the box her mother was opening for her instead of Jennie.

“You’re very welcome,” Jennie said brightly.

“I’m impressed you found an Asian one,” Jonghee then said, as she unraveled the ties holding the doll to the cardboard. “It’s always so hard to find more than one when they put out the new ones.”

“This is the new one from their streetwear collection,” Jennie replied. “Jongin mentioned that Rain liked bold colors, so I thought she’d like the outfit.”

Jongin wanted to tell her that she didn’t need to explain everything to try and justify the purchases, but he decided to just focus on eating his soup instead.

“Grandpa,” Riley said, holding up his new toy truck to him, “go zoom.”

Jongin’s father laughed and took the car, getting up from his chair so he could show him how to roll it across the floor.

“Riley, let your grandfather eat,” Jonghee told him.

“It’s fine,” Jongin’s father said. “Playing is more important than eating.”

“Maybe Jennie should have gotten you a toy instead of that nice tie,” Jongin’s mother said, and Jongin snickered.

“The tie was perfect,” his father said, and Jennie looked relieved and picked up her chopsticks to grab bulgogi from the bowl.

“So Jongin tells us you’re a fashion major,” June said while putting more kimchi on her plate. “I bet that’s fun.”

“It is,” Jennie said, nodding emphatically. “It’s always been my dream to be a designer and majoring in it has solidified how much I love doing it.”

“She’s great at it,” Jongin bragged. “Her designs are incredible.”

“Well now that Jongin’s a model,” Jonghee said, finally able to eat now that the kids were occupied with their toys, “You can use him for your designs.”

“I plan to,” Jennie said with a smile toward him. “I knew he’d be a perfect model. He’s a natural and the camera loves him.”

“So what are your plans after you graduate?” June asked, apparently interested in Jennie’s major. “Do you get a job in the industry, or do you start your own boutique? How does that work?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Jennie said, which was the exact opposite of what she had told her father regarding opening her own store once she graduated. “I figured that I would wait until I completed my internship my junior year to see what the real-world environment of the industry is like, and then I would base it off that.”

“That’s very pragmatic,” Jongin’s mother said.

“What’s your ultimate goal then?” June asked.

“To have my own line, my own brand,” Jennie said with a smile. “Something fun and fashion-forward, with a touch of class.”

“Sounds like you,” Jongin told her, and Jennie beamed at him.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be very successful at achieving your goals,” Jongin’s mother said, watching them.

“She will be,” Jongin confirmed, putting more galbi and pickled cucumbers on his plate, and then he decided to switch the subject so they could stop interrogating his girlfriend for the time being. “So, in case everyone hasn’t heard the news yet, Kyungsoo got the part for the gangster movie.”

“Oh my God,” June said, surprised. “I hadn’t heard.”

“He found out on Friday,” Jongin confirmed.

“I’m so happy for him,” Jonghee said. “He deserves it. He’s going to do such a great job.”

“I hope it’s more interesting than the plays from your high school,” Jongin’s father said. “That last one your senior year was especially boring.”

“I liked it,” Jongin’s mother remarked.

“You guys went to Kyungsoo’s plays?” Jennie asked, looking back and forth between Jongin’s father and mother.

“Mostly the ones Jongin would be in,” his mother explained.

“You were in plays?” Jennie asked, looking at him surprised. “How have you never mentioned this to me?”

“Only the musicals,” Jongin explained, “because they needed dancers. I didn’t act or anything. Except that last one my dad hated. We did _Our Town,_ and it had a big cast. Since it was our senior year, Kyungsoo made me do it with him so we could be on stage together one last time. I was more a background person, and I had one whole line.”

“And you delivered it perfectly,” Jongin’s mother said.

“I fell asleep,” Jongin’s father stated, and Jennie giggled.

They continued to talk about random things as they ate, and once they were done, Jennie offered to help clean up, even though her mother told her that she didn’t have to as their guest. But Jennie was insistent and followed her, helping rinse dishes to put in the dishwasher and taking the opportunity to continue speaking to Jongin’s mother.

“She’s really cute,” June said to Jongin with a smile as they collected dishes from the table to add to the pile by the sink.

“Yeah, she is,” Jongin said, his pride evident.

“I like that she makes you smile so much. Even when she was just talking and you were just eating, you were smiling at everything she said,” June pointed out, and Jongin felt exposed but didn’t mind it. Jennie did always tend to amuse him in some way.

“Jennie is Jennie,” Jongin explained. “It’s hard to not be amused by her.”

“I can tell,” June said with a soft laugh, and she took her stack of small plates to the sink.

After they had finished cleaning everything up, Jonghee let the kids know that they’d be leaving soon and to pick up all of their things. Rain whined saying that she wanted to stay, and then the little girl ran up to Jennie and told her to play with her new Barbie with her. Jennie smiled and nodded at the girl, then followed her to the living room to sit with her on the floor as Rain told her some story she had made up about her new doll.

Jongin crouched down to intercept Riley’s truck, and Riley said “noooo” and ran over to him, which allowed for Jongin to grab him and tickle him, causing the little boy to laugh loudly.

“So much for them getting worn out,” Jongin’s brother-in-law said as he picked up the toy truck to put in Riley’s little book bag.

“I’ll wear him out,” Jongin told him, “by tickling him!” And he went in for a new round of tickles, which made Riley screech and laugh some more before being sneaky and wiggling out of Jongin’s grasp so that he could try and tickle Jongin in return.

Jongin fell on the floor and curled up, laughing loudly even though he couldn’t really feel the little boy’s attempts at tickling him. But it was fun to pretend, and Riley believed every second of it, laughing even harder.

Once Jonghee had finished up what she was doing, Jongin and Jennie helped get the kids out of the house since they hadn’t wanted to leave. Jonghee’s husband strapped Riley into his booster car seat, and Jennie spoke with Rain who put on her own seatbelt to show off that unlike her little brother, she was a big girl.

Jonghee pulled Jongin to the side where they wouldn’t be overheard and told him, “I hope you bring her around more often.”

Jongin smiled, but then asked for confirmation. “So, you liked her?”

“She’s nice,” Jonghee said diplomatically. “But I want to get to know her better. And Rain already adores her, so you should bring her around.”

“I will,” Jongin told her, and Jonghee gave him a hug and told him she’d call him tomorrow.

Jennie gave Jonghee a hug goodbye as well then stood back beside Jongin and said, “Her kids are the cutest kids ever. Rain is gorgeous. I bet she’ll grow up to be a model just like you.”

Jongin chuckled and took her hand, waving bye to his sister and her family as the SUV pulled out of the driveway. He led Jennie back inside where they intercepted June as she was leaving as well.

“It was so great meeting you again,” June said, giving Jennie another hug and kiss on the cheek. “You’ll need to stop by my dessert café sometime so we can keep chatting.”

“I would love to,” Jennie said, her eyes earnest, “I’ve been begging Jongin to take me there.”

“You don’t need to wait for him,” June waved off. “Just bring yourself and we’ll make it a girls thing.”

Jennie promised her that she would and gave her another hug, and once June was gone, Jongin took Jennie upstairs to show her his room, which hadn’t changed much in the ten or so years they’d lived in that particular house.

“I figured you for a minimalist,” she said, taking it in and inspecting all of it. “You don’t even have anything on your walls.”

“When I was really young,” Jongin said, watching her as she looked at his bookshelf, “my mom had decorated my room and put up these posters and stickers of Disney characters. As I got older, and they came down because I outgrew them, I realized that they had always made me feel like my room was cluttered. So I keep things off my wall to make everything feel more open.”

“It makes sense,” Jennie said, and she picked up the framed picture on his nightstand and grinned. “I love this picture of us so much.”

“It’s my favorite one,” Jongin told her, remembering when they had gone on a date about a month into their dating life to the Santa Monica Pier and taken the selfie in front of the iconic Ferris wheel. That date had been the one that made Jongin realize that they needed to make things official because he was sprung to the point of no return.

“I loved this day so much,” Jennie said, putting it back down. “It’s funny how we haven’t been back there since then.” She sat on his bed, letting her hands glide over his light blue and tan flannel sheets.

“It is funny. Maybe we should return on our anniversary. Our one-year one.”

Jennie nodded at him and said, “I like that plan.”

Jongin sat beside her on the bed, and took her hand, giving it a little squeeze, then asked her, “So are you wishing you had never met my family now? Sorry if this was a bit too much for you.”

“Are you kidding?” Jennie said, looking at him with surprise, “I’m so happy I met them. I felt like I knew them anyway with the way you talked about them. Meeting them in person was amazing. This is the kind of family I always dreamed of having.”

“Grass is greener,” Jongin assured her. “You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I was an only child.” Although now that he was older, and his sisters no longer lived in the house with them, he could definitely appreciate that he had them and acknowledge that he was blessed to have siblings.

“You’d hate it,” Jennie said. “I always wanted a sister at least, but my parents only cared to have one kid. I tried to get them to adopt another girl at one point, but they laughed at me and said they only needed me since I had come out so perfect.”

“They were right,” Jongin told her, mostly because he wanted her to feel better about this.

She did give a little smile at that, but then she sighed and said, “I like your family so much. Do you think they liked me?”

“I know they did,” Jongin told her, giving her a little kiss of reassurance, and he did feel her ease up a bit as she kissed him back, elongating the kiss for a little bit longer.

Unfortunately, she had to leave, since she had a long drive ahead of her back to campus, so they went back downstairs where his parents were in the entertainment room, watching TV and talking.

“Oh, are you leaving now?” his mother said, getting up from her favorite armchair.

“Yeah, Jennie has to get back to campus for class in the morning,” Jongin let her know.

More hugs were exchanged as Jennie said goodbye to his parents, and then he walked her to her car, telling her to text him as soon as she got back to campus so that he knew she had made it okay. He gave her one more kiss, then waved goodbye as she drove away.

When he got back into the house, he headed to the entertainment room to hang out with his parents a little before bed.

“So, you guys liked her, right?” Jongin went ahead and asked, needing to know that this had been a successful night.

“I liked my tie,” his father said, and Jongin snorted.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then,” Jongin said, and then he looked at his mom expectantly.

“I’m glad we finally got to meet her,” Jongin’s mother said, and he knew more was coming, so he sat and listened. “She’s very sweet.”

When she didn’t continue after that, Jongin knew that his mother had a lot she wasn’t saying, so he went ahead and prompted her by asking, “But?”

His mother sighed and looked at him, then very plainly said, “That child is starved for love.”

Jongin narrowed his eyes, not sure how she had come to that conclusion.

“She gets a lot of love,” he said, maybe defensively. “Her parents love her. I mean, she’s their perfect little princess. And her friends love her. And she has over 200,000 followers on Instagram, which is insane for someone who’s not an actor or singer. Rain met her for two minutes and loved her.”

“Of course, her parents love her,” his mother said, “but it doesn’t mean that they show it in a way that makes her know that. You said it yourself. She’s their perfect little princess. They’ve probably spent more time grooming her to be what they wanted her to be than actually being the emotional support and parents she needed them to be. You’ve met her parents. You would know better.”

Jongin couldn’t refute his mother’s words because he had met Jennie’s parents, and he did know better. The way they dictated her life probably did make her feel like she needed to please them as if it was her job to do so, but still, Jennie loved her parents, so she had to know that they loved her too.

“Rain loved her because she bought her a doll,” his mother continued when Jongin didn’t say anything. “She didn’t even give everyone a chance to like her for who she was. She came in ready to buy our love because that’s how desperate she is to get it. And I see that look on your face, I’m not saying this as something against her. She’s very sweet, and it’s obvious that she’s very caring. But in the kitchen, while she was helping out, she kept asking me about other things our family does together. She wanted to know what our plans were for Easter, how we celebrated Christmas. She wanted to know how often we do family dinners, and then she wanted to know about what it was like in this house when the three of you kids were growing up together.”

“She’s an only child…” Jongin pointed out.

“I know,” his mother said. “She said that as well. When I asked her what her Easter plans were, she said that her family didn’t celebrate it, but that her mother had made plans for them to do brunch that morning at a place that would be great for her to feature on her Instagram for the holiday.”

Jongin frowned, truly disliking Jennie’s mother at that moment.

“When I told her that we do brunch as a family and do an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, I had to clarify that we don’t just do it for Rain and Riley and that I expect the three of you kids to still be a part of it. And then I told her that we watch movies and play board games then have a very nice Easter dinner.”

Jongin bit his lip, starting to sense that maybe a mother’s wisdom was something he shouldn’t argue against.

“I like her,” his mother said to him as if knowing he needed to hear that, “And I think someone like you is exactly what she needs.”

Jongin looked up at her expectantly but knew from her tone that another “but” was coming.

“I just worry that being with her may take a toll on you at some point.”

He sucked in his bottom lip as he looked at his mother, thinking that he had wondered many times as well if he was up for the challenge of dating her.

“You have a big heart, and you are so caring,” his mother continued. “I’ve always thought your issue with Krystal was that you loved too much, and she couldn’t handle it because of her independent spirit. This is the opposite of that. Now I worry that Jennie will need more from you than you’ll be able to give.”

Jongin still had nothing to say. He understood what his mom was saying, but he felt it wasn’t a fair assessment of the situation.

“Either way,” his mother then said, “I think you should invite her over for Easter next weekend. I think she deserves to have a good one.”

He knew that Jennie would love that, but he wasn’t sure Jennie’s mother would be cool with it. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to ask though.

“I’ll let her know she’s invited,” Jongin said, still feeling a bit sullen by everything his mom had said.

“Nini, don’t be upset,” she then said, knowing him way too well. “I told you I like her. And your father liked his tie. We’re glad we met her, and we’re glad she makes you happy.”

“She’s a nice girl,” his father added as if needing to confirm his wife’s sentiment.

Jongin let out a soft snort, but then nodded and stood up stretching his arms over his head as he yawned.

“I’m going to head to bed since I have to leave early in the morning for the studio,” he told them, giving his dad a good night hug and his mom a good night kiss on the cheek.

Once in his room, he let out a huge breath, trying to relax from everything his mother had said. He knew that a lot of what she had said was true, and he suspected that actually everything she had said was true, but he couldn’t let himself admit that. Mostly because he didn’t think his heart could handle it if Jennie really didn’t feel loved.

He picked up his phone from where he had left it on his bed to check to see if he had a text from her yet and instead was greeted by a ton of missed messages from the Jongas Brothers group chat.

_Jongdae: Please tell me you guys are awake._

_Jongdae: Okay, I really need you guys to be awake right now. And free. Please tell me you’re awake and free._

_Jongdae: Guys, I need to talk to you right now. Please tell me you’re getting these and please tell me you can come meet me somewhere. Kyungsoo, please tell me you haven’t left the OC yet._

_Kyungsoo: I’m here. I’m awake. I’m still at my parent’s house. What’s up?????_

_Jongdae: Thank god! Can you come meet me somewhere? I don’t know where. I don’t care where._

_Kyungsoo: Sure. Is everything okay?_

_Jongdae: No. Just come over. Shit, no, don’t come to my house. We need a neutral place. How about the park by your house? The one with the baseball fields and skate park._

_Kyungsoo: Okay. Now?_

_Jongdae: Where’s Jongin?_

_Kyungsoo: He’s at home. He was introducing Jennie to his family tonight at dinner, remember?_

_Jongdae: Shit fuck shit. I forgot. Okay, can you meet me there?_

_Kyungsoo: Yeah, I can leave now._

_Jongdae: Okay. I’ll leave now too._

_Kyungsoo: Are you okay to drive?_

_Jongdae: I’m not okay to do anything but I’m on my way. I’ll see you there._

Jongin’s heart started racing, never having witnessed Jongdae act this way about anything before. What the hell was wrong?

_Jongin: Shit, just saw this. I’ll head over there now!_

He threw a hoodie on and grabbed his keys and wallet, heading downstairs and peeking his head into the den again to let his parents know that something came up and he was meeting up with Jongdae and Kyungsoo really quick. They looked confused and told him to be careful, and Jongin headed out and got into his car, then drove as fast as he could to the park that Jongdae had told them to meet at.

He arrived there and pulled into the parking lot, seeing both Jongdae’s and Kyungsoo’s cars and the two friends standing by Jongdae’s car. Jongin parked right beside him and got out, asking what was going on before he could even finish closing his door.

Jongdae looked overwhelmed and a bit shaken up, and Kyungsoo looked at Jongdae worried.

“Dae, what is it?” Kyungsoo asked him. “What’s going on?”

Jongdae was leaning against the side of his car like he needed its help to stay standing, and he had his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie. He looked up at them both, eyes disconcerted, and swallowing before he said anything.

“So, I’m getting married.”

“What?” Jongin and Kyungsoo exclaimed at the same time.

“I’m getting married,” Jongdae said again like it made any more sense the second time around.

“I thought you weren’t even ready to make Lisa your girlfriend yet…” Kyungsoo said, trying to follow along.

“Not Lisa,” Jongdae said, shaking his head. “Wendy. Wendy and I are getting married.”

Now Jongin was more confused. “Have you been secretly seeing Wendy this whole time?” he asked, feeling a bit betrayed to not have been told.

“No,” Jongdae said, shaking his head again. “She’s pregnant.”

Jongin’s eyes and mouth both opened wide, and Kyungsoo somehow looked even more shocked than he did.

“Wait, hold up,” Jongin said. None of this made sense. Things needed to start making sense here.

“I know,” Jongdae said, “I had a lot of questions too.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Kyungsoo said, moving closer to Jongdae so he could rub his back, realizing that Jongdae needed to be comforted.

Jongdae took a deep breath and then did just that.

“She showed up at church today,” Jongdae began. “Which was a surprise because she had stopped coming to church after we had broken up. I knew she had started going to a church at her college, or near her college instead, and I knew it was so that she could avoid having to see me. But out of nowhere, she showed up today.”

Jongdae let out a big sigh before he could continue.

“She came up to me, and I told her that I was surprised to see her there. I asked her how she’s been, and she asked if we could talk. So, we went outside, and she just told me. No warning. Nothing. She just said she was pregnant. And I was confused, but then I told her “congrats,” and then she said it was mine.”

“Holy shit,” Jongin said, running his hand through his hair. This couldn’t be real.

“Oh my God,” Kyungsoo said, “What did you say?”

“I said.. how? Like, I reminded her that we haven’t been together for like four months, and she corrected me and said it’s been almost five, and I agreed and said, yeah, we haven’t been together for almost five months, and then she said that she was five months pregnant.”

“What?” Kyungsoo said, and Jongin was already shaking his head.

“No way,” Jongin said. “She has to be lying. You would’ve noticed it when you saw her.”

Jongdae sighed again, his shoulders falling a bit more as he did.

“I asked her how could she be five months pregnant when she didn’t look like she was pregnant at all,” Jongdae continued, “And she said she had been hiding it but that she was now starting to show too much and couldn’t hide it anymore, so that’s why she was telling me because she didn’t know what to do.”

“Why didn’t she fucking tell you sooner?” Kyungsoo asked, and Jongin nodded, agreeing completely with him.

“She said she was scared,” Jongdae answered, “I mean, obviously she was scared to have hidden it for that long. Her parents are… I mean, you guys remember how they are. They’re pretty hardcore religious, and sex before marriage is not something that they’re okay with.”

“Well, they don’t have a choice now,” Jongin pointed out, still not believing this.

“I know,” Jongdae said, closing his eyes for a moment, “We know. Which is why we decided to get married.”

“No,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “That can’t be the only answer to this.”

“It has to be,” Jongdae said. “We talked about it. We left the church and went to the coffee shop across the street to discuss this and figure things out. We considered a lot of different angles, but… well neither of us believe in abortion, and adoption would be stupid because she wouldn’t be able to hide it the whole time from them, plus, … I mean, it’s my kid. I should be the one to raise it, not some other family.”

“How do you even know it’s yours?” Jongin flat out asked, wondering that from the start of Jongdae’s story.

“It’s Wendy,” Jongdae said, looking almost offended he’d ask, “she wouldn’t have cheated on me, and she wouldn’t lie about this.”

“I mean,” Jongin tried to soften, “how do you know the timeline is right? She could be saying five months, but it’s never an exact thing. That’s why due dates aren’t always accurate. I know this from when my sister had her kids.”

“Again, it’s Wendy,” Jongdae said, and his tone was getting more annoyed. “Even if the timeline was off by a few days or a week, she’s not someone that would have just hooked up with someone a week after we broke up. You know how she is.”

Jongin did, and he gave a soft apology, knowing that Wendy wasn’t the type to pull a stunt like that. Wendy was the textbook definition of a “good girl,” and she was very nice, very polite, very honest, and thought the world was made up of good instead of evil. It was actually interesting to see how Jongdae had pulled her out of that shell a bit when they had started dating, and even more interesting that Jongdae, who was also nice, and also kind, and also good, had very much been the “bad boy” in their scenario.

“I can’t believe you didn’t wrap it up during the break-up sex,” Kyungsoo then said.

“Seriously,” Jongin echoed. “Why didn’t you wrap it up?”

“We didn’t have break-up sex,” Jongdae said, a whiny tone now in his voice. “It was probably the night before when I wasn’t sure if I was going to break up with her yet or not. And I don’t know. We just got caught up, okay?”

“This is crazy,” Jongin said, still not believing that any of this could be true.

“You can’t marry her,” Kyungsoo said. “Getting married is crazy.”

“I have to,” Jongdae said. “It’s the only thing that’s going to work. We haven’t told our parents yet, and we know they’re going to lose their shit either way, but at least this way, we can spin it in a way where they will accept it and not kill us both. You know how my parents are. You know how her parents are. We don’t have a way out of this.”

Jongin crossed his arms, shaking his head at the stupidity of all of this. Why had Jongdae been so careless? Why had Wendy let him be? Jongin had gotten caught up many times during sex, but he still always managed to remember to wear a condom.

“There’s always a way out,” Kyungsoo said.

“Our way out is getting married,” Jongdae said. “We’re going to talk with them tomorrow and announce that we’re getting married and that we have a kid on the way, and when they start to freak out about the kid part, we’re going to remind them that, as we were broken up, finding out that we were pregnant was a clear sign from God that we were meant to be together, so He brought us back together with this special blessing, and we’re both very happy and excited to start our new family.”

“Jesus Christ,” Kyungsoo said, looking at Jongdae as if he was insane.

“Quite literally,” Jongin said, also giving Jongdae a similar look.

“I know,” Jongdae said, “But it plays perfectly into my father’s teachings at the church that getting married and finding a partner isn’t about romance but about responsibility and God’s higher calling for us, which then plays perfectly into Wendy’s family being huge believers of everything my father teaches.”

Jongin had to admit to himself that Jongdae had a point. It was an awful point, but he certainly had it.

“And what about Lisa?” Kyungsoo asked, which was going to be Jongin’s next question as well.

Jongdae closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and shook his head, “I have to tell her the truth and then end it.”

“This fucking sucks,” Jongin said, not able to hold it back. “You and Lisa are literally perfect together.”

Jongdae didn’t say anything, and Kyungsoo looked closer at Jongdae’s face, then pulled him into a hug. Jongin realized then that Jongdae had started crying.

He hugged Jongdae from the back, feeling his friend’s shoulders shaking as he let out more tears, and Jongin felt awful for him. So, he decided to back off from his questions and general attitude, knowing that even though this was the worst idea ever, Jongdae needed them to be supportive right now.

When Jongdae pulled himself together again, he wiped his eyes and apologized, then said he was fine.

“It’ll be fine,” Jongdae reiterated, wiping under his eyes with the palm of his hand. “I mean, I always wanted to get married and have kids someday. It’s just happening a lot sooner than I expected.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, running his hand through Jongdae’s hair, and then putting his hand back on his back to rub it some more.

“I mean, Wendy’s going to be a great mom,” Jongdae reasoned, nodding his head as he sniffled, “You know she is. She’s so caring and attentive.”

Jongin wanted to point out that her being too caring and too attentive was why Jongdae had broken up with her in the first place, but he stayed quiet and rubbed his hand up and down Jongdae’s arm instead.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said for them both.

“How’s this going to work then?” Jongin asked him. “You get married and then what? Are you guys moving in together? Are you dropping out?”

“I have no idea,” Jongdae said, widening his eyes and then letting them return to normal. “We’ll probably try and figure all that out tomorrow after we tell our parents.”

“When is she due?” Jongin then thought to ask.

“Around mid-August,” Jongdae replied.

“That’s not even far from now,” Kyungsoo said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Jongdae said, and he cleared his throat and added, “I know.”

“Right before your 20th birthday,” Jongin realized out loud.

“Yep,” Jongdae nodded. “I’m going to be a teenage dad.”

Both Kyungsoo and Jongin didn’t know what to say to that, and they both stayed quiet for a bit too long. Jongdae also stayed silent, sniffling and rubbing his palms under his eyes again.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said after a moment. “What do you need us to do? What do you need from us right now?”

“Just check up on me tomorrow and make sure I’m still alive,” Jongdae said, probably as a joke, but it didn’t come out like one.

“You’ll be fine,” Jongin tried to tell him, but knowing Jongdae’s parents, maybe he wouldn’t be, so he asked him, “How do you think your parents are going to react? Like really.”

Jongdae took a deep breath and answered, “I’ve played the scenario in my head about thirty times today, and in each one, my dad tells me that I’m going to ruin the reputation of his church.”

“You’re the pastor’s son,” Kyungsoo said, smirking a little, “that’s your job.”

“Yeah,” Jongin played along. “No one told Wendy to hook up with the pastor’s son. Everyone knows the pastor’s son is always bad news.”

“You guys are idiots,” Jongdae said, but he did let his lips twitch into a quick side smile before he lost it again.

“Maybe her parents won’t be so mad at least,” Kyungsoo then thought out loud. “Their daughter marrying the pastor’s son? That’s probably what they hoped would happen when you guys started dating in the first place.”

“That’s a good point,” Jongin agreed.

“Not like this though,” Jongdae said with a shake of his head, “I mean, I do think they’ll come around to it before my parents do, but they’re going to be really upset that it went down like this.”

“Well, look on the bright side,” Kyungsoo then said, “At least after you tell them tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about manning the purity table at the spring event anymore.”

Jongin snickered, and Jongdae groaned and shook his head.

“I am so dead,” Jongdae said. “My dad has been playing along with me being an art major and refusing to follow in his footsteps, but this… I don’t even know what’s going to happen. Well, outside of him saying I ruined the reputation of the church. That’s the one thing I know for sure is going to happen tomorrow.”

Jongin really wanted to confess to Jongdae that he had always thought his dad was a bit batshit crazy, but this was definitely not the time for that kind of honesty.

“It’ll turn out okay,” Kyungsoo told him, but they all knew better.

Jongdae was going to be suffering some serious repercussions for this, and there wasn’t anything they could do to help him out. So Jongin decided to switch the topic to something a little more lighthearted, or at least lighthearted for the moment.

“I guess we’ll be seeing more of Wendy then,” Jongin offered, mentally hating it already. Lisa had been such a significant improvement that he couldn’t believe they’d have to go back to this.

“Which means…” Kyungsoo said, already making an apologetic face that Jongin understood too well, “we’ll probably be seeing more of Joy and Seulgi.”

Jongin closed his eyes and nodded, then groaned. Joy and Seulgi had been perfectly nice and fun to hang out with before Jongdae had broken up with Wendy. After the breakup, that became a whole different story.

“I’m literally the only person in the world that Joy hates,” Jongdae said, well aware of the situation.

It was true. Jongin remembered Jongdae telling them all about how Joy had come up to Jongdae after their first church run-in after his break up with Wendy and told him that he was the most horrible person in the world for breaking up with the sweetest person in the world for no good reason. Among the other things Joy had told him included: You never deserved her, She was too good for you from the beginning, and I hope every girl you date after this is evil so you’re reminded every day that you had the best and threw it away.

Unlike Joy, who prior to hating Jongdae hadn’t even hated her worst enemy, Jongdae had expected worse from Seulgi, who was always honest and never had any issues telling things like they were. Not surprisingly, she did give it to him worse. Way worse. At some point in the tirade that she had thrown at him, she had said, “Just admit that you’re an asshole that wanted to devirginize the purest girl in this church,” and when Jongdae had recovered from being blindsided by that very false accusation, she had added, “All she did was love you and want to make you happy, and you broke up with her because you’re just another spoiled trust-fund kid that got bored with his toy and wanted to play with something new.”

Needless to say, Jongin didn’t think having them back in their lives was going to be a good thing.

“Maybe they won’t be so bad now that you’re marrying Wendy,” Kyungsoo shrugged, and Jongdae let out a sarcastic laugh, which was the correct response to that hopeful statement.

“God,” Jongin then said, thinking about this, “They must already know. Wendy wouldn’t have kept this from them. Well, maybe she would’ve kept it from Joy, but I can’t imagine she didn’t tell Seulgi about this at some point.”

“I’m so dead,” Jongdae said, shaking his head in disbelief. “From every angle, I’m dead.”

“Well, maybe Wendy can change their minds,” Kyungsoo tried. “Maybe she could tell them that you’re doing the right thing and that everything will be fine now so they can back off and treat her baby daddy with some respect.”

“Baby daddy,” Jongin said, letting out a half-laugh because the idea of Jongdae being called a baby daddy was too funny, even for this bleak moment.

“We should get you a T-shirt that says that,” Kyungsoo added, half-laughing as well.

“The only T-shirt you should get me is one that says ‘dead’ on it,” Jongdae said, “Especially because the person who hates me the most right now is Wendy.”

Jongin hissed, and he rubbed Jongdae’s arm again as he asked, “I take it she’s still upset about the breakup then?”

“When we came to our decision and agreed that we’d get married,” Jongdae began, “Her exact words were ‘I can accept that I’m going to marry someone who doesn’t love me, but you need to accept that I’ve changed,’ and then she went on to tell me that she stopped being the girl I knew after I broke up with her. She knew that she hadn’t done anything wrong, and she vowed to herself after that day to never give that much of herself to anyone ever again.”

“Wow,” Jongin said, grateful that his own breakup with Krystal had been pretty amicable.

“And then she let me know,” Jongdae continued, “that last time around I had an issue with her caring too much about me, but this time around, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that because she literally didn’t care. She made it clear that she was going to focus on being a good mother and raising the baby, but that she didn’t care about me at all. I had told her earlier in our conversation that I was seeing someone, and she literally said to keep seeing her because she didn’t care what I did.”

“You are so screwed,” Kyungsoo said. “It’s like Joy put a hex on you and now the person you’re ending up with is literally the evil version of the same girl you’re going to be sorry you lost.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” Jongdae said, looking even more defeated. “You are so right.”

Jongin couldn’t accept this as readily as Jongdae seemed to be able to, and he put his hands on his hips and looked at his friend with exasperation.

“Dae, how are you going to marry someone when that’s the situation?” he flat out asked him.

Jongdae let out a sigh and shook his head, “I loved Wendy once, and she loved me once, and we made a kid because of that. We both have changed since then, and things are not ideal at the moment, but once we settle into this, I’m sure we can find that again. Somehow.”

“You sound like you’re trying really hard to convince yourself of that,” Jongin pointed out.

“I have to,” Jongdae shrugged. “I have to believe it too. At the end of the day, I’m about to be a dad. Nothing we do outside of an abortion is going to change that. And since I’m going to be a dad, then I want to be the best dad possible. So for once, I’m going to believe what I was taught growing up, and I’m going to trust that this is God’s will, and Wendy and I are meant to be together, and if that’s the case, then I’ll just have to work really hard on being a good husband and falling in love with her again in the process. If I’m successful, then maybe she’ll love me again, too.”

This sounded like Jongin’s worst nightmare, but Jongdae was right about one thing, he was going to be a dad no matter what, and whatever he felt was the right thing to do for his kid, nothing Jongin or Kyungsoo could say would be able to change it.

“It’ll work out,” Kyungsoo told him. “Like you said, you’ll give it no choice but to, and you’re really good at making things happen and turning bad situations into good ones, so you got this.”

“That much is true,” Jongin agreed. Jongdae did have a knack for turning crappy situations around, and what Jongdae needed right now to help him do that was the support of his friends. “Just let us know what you need us to do to help.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said. “Anything. We’ve got you.”

“Thanks, guys,” Jongdae said, and he pulled them both into a hug, which they stayed in for a little while before finally letting go and realizing that they all had to head home.

“Are you driving back up to campus tonight?” Kyungsoo asked him.

“No, I have to stay here,” Jongdae said. “Wendy and I want to do a run-through and make sure we’re on the same page before telling them.”

“How are you guys going to tell them?” Jongin asked. “What’s your game plan?”

“We’re going to tell them to meet us at the church and do it there,” Jongdae said. “My dad will already be there anyway, and I’m hoping that being surrounded by the aura of holiness will help keep them calm.”

“Good strategy,” Kyungsoo said, giving him a thumbs up.

“Call us after and let us know if you’re okay,” Jongin said. “I can stay in the area and skip going to the studio tomorrow if you need me around.”

“No, I’ve got this,” Jongdae told him, “but thanks. I’ll call you guys if I survive and let you know what happened.”

After another round of hugs, they did finally go their separate ways, and Jongin tried to process all of this as he drove back home. It was insane. All of it. This wasn’t supposed to be happening to them yet. Jongdae and Kyungsoo were supposed to graduate college and start their careers before any of them started getting married and having kids. Why was this happening?

Once he was back home, he realized that he really was upset about the whole thing. Mostly because this changed everything. If Jongdae was married with a kid, he wouldn’t be able to hang out with them as much anymore, and it would change the group dynamic as well. And what about Lisa? After Jongdae tells Lisa that they can’t date anymore, they probably won’t want to be anywhere in the same vicinity as the other. How were parties going to work? Was Jongdae even going to come to parties anymore?

“Is everything alright?” Jongin’s mother asked him, and Jongin startled, not realizing that she was sitting on the living room couch reading a book.

“I didn’t see you there,” Jongin said, putting his hand over his chest.

“Which is impressive. since I’m right here,” she said, looking at him concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“No…nothing,” Jongin said, and he tried to paste a smile on his face, “I’ll tell you in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, now adding confusion to her worry.

“I’m okay, mom,” Jongin assured her, and he went over to give her another goodnight kiss on the cheek. “It’s nothing about me. It’s someone else. I’ll tell you during breakfast.”

“Alright then,” she said, and Jongin could tell she believed him. “Sleep well.”

“You too,” he told her, and he hurried up to his room, knowing that sleeping well was not something he would be doing that night.


	24. Chapter 24

There was no possible way for Kyungsoo to focus on class. Not with his mind worrying about Jongdae and still trying to come to terms with the fact that his best friend was going to be a dad. And married. He felt like he wanted to turn back time and make sure that this never happened, and then he realized that if he felt that way, then poor Jongdae was feeling even worse.

He didn’t even bother with his afternoon classes, skipping them both and heading to his apartment to wait for any news from Jongdae. Jongin came over, mentioning that he couldn’t pull it together at the studio, so he decided to just come over instead.

They ordered pizza and ate, breaking their silence only once in a while to reiterate that they couldn’t believe this was happening before going back to eating. No matter how hard Kyungsoo tried to process what Jongdae had told them, it just didn’t seem real.

They finally heard from Jongdae around 8:00 that night. Kyungsoo had put him on speaker so both he and Jongin could hear, and Jongdae stated that he was still alive somehow and that he was headed to the apartment where he’d fill them in on how everything went. Kyungsoo told him to drive carefully then hung up and looked at Jongin.

“Well, he’s alive at least.”

“He sounded a bit out of it,” Jongin said, looking worried.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo agreed. “You don’t think his father disowned him or anything, do you?”

“I hope not,” Jongin said. “His father so would though. That man’s insane.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, sucking in his bottom lip.

Kyungsoo had never really had an issue with Jongdae’s father as a kid, but as he got older and attended some of his church services with Jongdae just to hang out with him, he started to see him in a different light. Kyungsoo’s own personal beliefs revolved around being a good person and not causing harm, but Jongdae’s father had a lot of interesting ideas on how people should live their lives, particularly that they needed to live their life in ministry because that was God’s calling for them. It frankly had sounded cultish to Kyungsoo, but it wasn’t until Jongdae explained that his dad wanted him to start going on special retreats revolving around ministry and finding a lifelong mate that Kyungsoo said something to him about it.

Jongdae wasn’t stupid, and he knew that his father was a bit out there. He had taken Kyungsoo’s criticism better than Kyungsoo had expected, but then he explained that his father himself felt that he had a higher calling. Jongdae didn’t judge his father for it, saying instead, “Aren’t we all just looking for our purpose?”

Kyungsoo supposed that was one way to look at it, and since he had said his piece and Jongdae knew how he felt, he never bothered bringing it up again. He knew that his own parents also had their opinions, but they too kept it among themselves, always being cordial with Jongdae’s family when they’d interact at school functions, or when they’d drop either him or Jongdae off at the other’s houses to play or spend the night.

He then remembered his conversation with his parents last night when he had told them about Jongdae, and he looked at Jongin and asked, “Did you tell your parents?”

“Yeah,” Jongin nodded. “This morning.”

“Same,” Kyungsoo said. “I told them last night while I was driving to campus. I couldn’t keep it in. I had to tell someone.”

“Yeah,” Jongin agreed again. “My mom’s really worried about how his parents are going to react.”

“That was the first thing my mom said,” Kyungsoo told him. “And my dad said that it’s awful that he feels he doesn’t have a choice outside of marrying her. He blamed his father for that, saying that he raised him with the fear of God so that Jongdae couldn’t get too far out of line.”

“I told my mom that his parents still thought he was a virgin,” Jongin said, “and my mom said she was going to church today to light a candle for Jongdae.”

Kyungsoo snorted, but secretly hoped it helped.

They watched some TV to try and get their minds off it until Jongdae arrived, and as soon as he did, Kyungsoo turned the TV straight off and sat up straight, watching as Jongdae took off his shoes, took off his hoodie, dropped his keys on the coffee table right by the pizza boxes, and collapsed onto the armchair, holding his hoodie against his stomach like he needed it for support.

“I’m so happy you’re alive,” Kyungsoo told him. “There’s lots of pizza. We ordered more than usual so you could have all you wanted.”

“I can’t eat right now,” Jongdae said.

“That’s okay,” Jongin reassured him.

They didn’t push him to talk and waited for him to be ready to share what happened with them. Jongdae had closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair, and then after several long moments, he let out a large breath and looked at them.

“So, it mostly went as expected,” he began, “with some unexpected exceptions, but the outcome is the same. We’re still getting married.”

Kyungsoo felt very disappointed by this affirmation, but he nodded anyway, knowing he was going to need to accept it.

“Obviously,” Jongdae continued, “calling our parents to meet at the church raised a lot of red flags. They knew something was up, mostly because they knew Wendy and I were no longer together, so… that was a little dumb on our part.”

Jongdae seemed to mentally chide himself for it and then spoke again.

“We went into one of the meeting rooms in the Vision Center, and Wendy and I sat next to each other. We announced that we were getting married. My mother, bless that woman, flat out asked Wendy, ‘How far along are you?’”

“Oh my God,” Jongin said, as Kyungsoo gasped.

“Yeah,” Jongdae nodded, “that was the end of that. It all went downhill from there. We told them she was five months pregnant, which… you know… everyone freaked out. So, in order to calm them, I gave them our whole line about how this was God’s plan and we’re happy God brought us back together for this amazing miracle, or whatever I ended up actually saying, and my dad gave me this look. It was one of those, ‘I see through your bullshit’ looks, so… I knew I was pretty screwed then.”

“What happened?” Kyungsoo asked, even though he was scared to know.

“A lot,” Jongdae said, letting out another breath. “There was a lot of arguing, and a lot of finger-pointing, and… a lot.”

“What about her parents?” Jongin then asked.

“Yeah, that was the unexpected part,” Jongdae said, pursing his thin lips together and nodding, seemingly to himself. “They did not approve of the marriage.”

“What?” Kyungsoo and Jongin both asked at the same time.

“Yeah,” Jongdae confirmed. “Unlike my parents, they actually came through for her. They said that she shouldn’t marry someone that didn’t care about her, and that there was no reason why we couldn’t just figure out how to raise the baby while not being together.”

“This is shocking,” Jongin said.

“I mean,” Jongdae clarified, “this came after they yelled at her about having premarital sex and how she had sinned and disappointed God, but still, they didn’t like the idea of her marrying me because, you know, I had dumped her. Apparently, they had taken that just as badly as she had, which I didn’t know until that moment since, unlike her, they kept coming to church.”

“So then,” Kyungsoo treaded, “why are you still marrying her?”

“Because my lovely parents made it clear that there would be no other option,” Jongdae said, and then gave them a sarcastic smile and added, “Guess why?”

“Reputation of your father and the church,” Kyungsoo and Jongin both said.

“Yep,” Jongdae said. “My dad made it clear that not only would we be getting married, but we’d also be announcing it to the congregation before it made the gossip rounds. Yours truly now has to give the sermon that day about how God has bigger plans for us, as I just recently learned by finding out that even though I thought what was best for me was breaking up with my girlfriend, God knew that this was the person I needed to be in ministry with for the rest of my life.”

“Just run away,” Kyungsoo said, shaking his head. “My parents love you. They’ll adopt you.”

“Same here,” Jongin told him, and then followed with, “Dae, this is crazy.”

“Right,” Jongdae nodded again in agreement, “And I said that. I yelled at him and said this was crazy and that I wasn’t doing it. And he, as expected, played the ‘if you don’t do this, then we’re cutting you off and not paying for college or helping with the cost of raising this baby’ card.”

Kyungsoo knew that his father was capable, but he still couldn’t believe he had told him that. He suddenly really hated Jongdae’s father.

“I hate your dad,” Jongin flat out said, and Kyungsoo was glad that one of them had said it.

Jongdae stayed silent for a moment, lost in thought, but then he looked at them again and said, “Anyway, so that’s where we landed. After everyone agreed that we’d just get married, we worked out some details. Wendy and I are going to apply for our marriage license and do a civil marriage. Then, after the baby is born, we’ll do an actual ceremony. The way we’re spinning that one to the church is that since our miracle child is what brought us back together, we want the baby to be part of the celebration or something like that. My dad came up with the narrative.”

“Of course he did,” Kyungsoo remarked under his breath.

“I’m staying in school, and Wendy’s finishing off this semester. Then, she’s taking the next few years off until I graduate, and then she’ll go back and finish. Her parents wanted her to stay with them once the baby was born since they could help her out with everything, but that would have meant that I would have to drive from USC to the OC every day after my classes were done to see my baby at their house, where I wouldn’t be living, so it didn’t make sense. So instead, I’m going to apply for family housing next semester, and Wendy and I will live there.”

“Are her parents going to drive up instead to help out?” Jongin asked as Kyungsoo tried to make sense of this plan.

All he could think about was that he no longer had a roommate for next semester, and that thought made him really upset, which was stupid given the context of Jongdae’s whole life being turned upside down.

“So, her mom actually works from home three days out of the week,” Jongdae explained, “She’s going to talk to her boss about changing it so that the three days are consecutive so that she doesn’t have to drive back and forth those three days. My mom said that she can come up and help out the other two days since she doesn’t really have a job outside of church committees and stuff. And then Wendy and I would go down to the OC every weekend. She and the baby will stay with her parents, and I’ll stay with mine. Of course, we’ll have to show up as a happy family together at church on Sunday, do that whole thing, and then we’d drive back up here that night and do it all over again.”

“This sounds exhausting,” Jongin said.

“My life is about to get permanently exhausting,” Jongdae said. “But it’s okay. I think we can pull this off.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, “But only if you play by your dad’s rules.”

“I know,” Jongdae admitted. “But I only have to play along until I’m 25, at which point I get my trust fund and can cut the cord.”

“Dae,” Jongin said like he couldn’t be serious. “That’s like six years from now.”

“I can count,” Jongdae snapped at him, and Jongin blinked in surprise. “Sorry,” Jongdae then said.

“No, I’m sorry,” Jongin told him. “Obviously, do what you feel you need to do.”

“I have a couple of plans,” Jongdae explained to them. “That’s Plan A. Plan B is that I graduate, end up getting my dream job, and start making enough money to cover everything while Wendy is in school. That would be a bit more of a struggle, but I know that even if my dad wouldn’t want to help us out, my mom would give us money on the side. Plus, Wendy’s parents would still help out. I’m just hoping that my dad backs off after a year of this and leaves me alone so I can get the trust fund.”

“I hope so too,” Kyungsoo said in solidarity.

“Plan C is the one where we say, ‘fuck it,’ and just figure it out on our own. But right now, it makes sense to play along. At least until we get settled into this new life of ours.”

“That makes sense,” Kyungsoo said.

“And Plan D is to get a court order and try and get my trust distributed to me earlier due to hardships or whatever I can come up with.”

“I think you should switch the order of Plan C and D,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“I think Plan D should be Plan A,” Jongin let him know.

“I’ll switch C and D,” Jongdae said, “But I really think we can make this work right now. I think everyone is just freaking out right now, but once all that passes and we start doing it, they’ll have to settle down and play along, right?”

Kyungsoo didn’t think it’d be that simple, but he nodded and said, “Right,” anyway, just to make Jongdae feel better.

Jongdae was exhausted, and Kyungsoo and Jongin both gave him hugs when he stood up to go to his room. They let him know that they were there for him, and once he had gone to his room and closed his door, Kyungsoo and Jongin both let out big sighs.

“This is so dumb,” Jongin said, softly, so that Jongdae couldn’t overhear him.

“I know,” Kyungsoo said, just as soft.

“I should probably sleep too,” Jongin then said, looking too annoyed by all this. “I’ll just crash on your couch.”

“I have to go to bed too,” Kyungsoo told him and then let out an unintentional yawn. “I have my stupid early Statistics class in the morning.”

“That sounds horrible,” Jongin said, grabbing the blanket from where they normally kept it for him.

“It’s both horrible and not horrible,” Kyungsoo said with a chuckle. “The class itself is boring, but it’s my class with Chanyeol.”

“That sounds even more horrible,” Jongin remarked while making a face.

Kyungsoo laughed at him, and then wished him a good night, heading to his own room to pass out.

***

When Kyungsoo got to his Statistics class the next morning, he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all. After sleeping on everything he had learned, he had to finally admit to himself that he was really upset and a bit angry with Jongdae. Why couldn’t he have been more careful so that things weren’t all screwed up now?

Kyungsoo hadn’t minded Wendy, but he had definitely preferred the way that Jongdae acted with Lisa instead. They seemed to be better matched. With Wendy, Jongdae always got a little boring because she was a little boring, and they would spend most of their time either hanging out at the church or a church event. Kyungsoo and Jongin had been convinced that the whole reason Jongdae even got a church girlfriend in the first place was to make church more bearable for himself.

Now he was probably going to go back to that, and Kyungsoo was probably never going to see him again.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said, and Kyungsoo barely registered it, lost in thought and staring off at the black metal frames of the windows.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo said, turning his head as Chanyeol took his seat and looked at him.

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked. “You seem a bit far away.”

“I’m… I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said.

“Yeah, same,” Chanyeol nodded, and Kyungsoo did notice then that he didn’t seem as chipper as usual.

Class started and ended without Kyungsoo paying any attention to it, and as he packed up his unused laptop, he looked over at Chanyeol whose brows were furrowed while he put his own laptop into his backpack.

Kyungsoo then had a thought, and before he could dismiss it, the thought had come tumbling out of his mouth.

“Let’s skip the rest of classes.”

“What?” Chanyeol said, now standing. He looked at him as he pushed up the backpack strap on his shoulder.

“Let’s skip. Let’s just… I don’t know, go to your dorm and watch movies.”

Chanyeol looked a little confused by this, but then he nodded and turned to leave.

They said nothing to each other as they walked toward Chanyeol’s residential building, and once they were inside his dorm room, Kyungsoo took off his sneakers, dropped his bag on the floor, and went down with it, letting out an annoyed sound as he laid on his stomach with his head on his arms.

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol asked concerned, and Kyungsoo groaned.

“I hate everything,” Kyungsoo whined.

“What happened? Is this about the movie? Did something happen with the movie?”

Chanyeol sat on the floor and faced him, and though it was tempting to stay laying down to talk to him, Kyungsoo did manage to sit up and lean against Chanyeol’s bed, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

“No, it’s not about the movie,” Kyungsoo said.

“What happened?”

“You first. Why are you so off?”

“I’m just tired,” Chanyeol said, quick, like he needed Kyungsoo to stop asking questions, so Kyungsoo did him the favor and decided to share his issues with him instead.

He took a deep breath, not even sure how to tell him the big news, and then he just let it out.

“Jongdae’s getting married.”

“What?” Chanyeol said, his eyes bulging rather dramatically.

“He’s getting married,” Kyungsoo confirmed with a nod. “Because he’s a stupid idiot, who didn’t wrap it up when he had sex with his ex-girlfriend before he broke up with her. So now he’s going to marry her. Even though she hates him, and even though he likes Lisa, and even though he’s 19 and has his whole life ahead of him, he’s going to marry her.”

“Wait? What do you mean he didn’t… wait…”

“She’s pregnant,” Kyungsoo spelled out for him since he seemed to need the confirmation.

“Oh my God,” Chanyeol said, “Oh my God.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo agreed, “God has a lot to do with this. Because his evil father is forcing him to have to get married in order to save the reputation of his stupid cult. So now I’m out a roommate next year, and I’m also out a best friend because I’ll probably never see him again since he’ll be married and taking care of a baby.”

Chanyeol blinked repeatedly as if he needed to in order to process everything, and then he said, “That’s crazy.”

“It’s so stupid,” Kyungsoo pouted. “I’m so mad at him. I don’t care if that makes me selfish, but I hate everything about this.”

“It makes sense,” Chanyeol told him. “It changes everything, so it makes sense. Wow, I couldn’t even imagine getting married and pregnant at this age.”

“Of course not, because it’s stupid,” Kyungsoo said again. He didn’t think he was ever going to get over this, and the last thing he felt like doing was going back to his own apartment because he realized that he didn’t want to see Jongdae right now. Maybe he was angrier at him than he had thought.

“Does Lisa know yet?” Chanyeol asked, shifting his long legs so they were straight in front of him, his toes almost touching Kyungsoo’s.

“Jongdae’s going to tell her today,” Kyungsoo replied.

“Wow, that’s gonna be tough,” Chanyeol said, eyebrows furrowing, and he looked as if he was thinking through the scenario. “How do you even approach that? I have to break up with you because I’m marrying my ex-girlfriend?”

“I guess,” Kyungsoo shrugged, not caring how Jongdae approached it. It was his own stupid mess to deal with. He pouted again, thinking about how something as simple as movie nights at Chanyeol’s wouldn’t happen with Jongdae anymore because he’d have to be stuck at home with his wife who hated him.

Chanyeol scooted over to him, bringing his knees up so that they were pressed against the back of Kyungsoo’s hands, which were still wrapped around his own knees. Chanyeol rested his arms on top of his knees, which rose much higher than Kyungsoo’s, and placed his chin on them to look at Kyungsoo up close.

“You look like you’re ready to cry,” Chanyeol said. “How do I help?”

“Do you have a time machine?” Kyungsoo asked him, and Chanyeol chuckled.

“Sorry. I wish I did,” he said. “You know, maybe this isn’t the terrible thing that you think it is. Like, yeah, it changes everything, but maybe that’s a good thing. Don’t they always say that change is good?”

“That’s a dumb saying,” Kyungsoo said. He knew he was being petulant, but he didn’t care.

“But weren’t you going to become a big movie star and drop out of college anyway?” Chanyeol then reminded him. “You were going to abandon Jongdae to finish college by himself. You can’t get mad at him for beating you to it.”

Kyungsoo hadn’t considered that angle, and he found it difficult to refute Chanyeol’s point.

“This is different,” he said anyway, and Chanyeol chuckled at him again.

“It’s not,” Chanyeol then said. “That’s like me getting mad at Baekhyun for finally leaving college for real because he really did start a band and had to go on tour. Things change, and we adapt. You’ll adapt to this Jongdae thing. So stop pouting about it.” That just made Kyungsoo pout more, and Chanyeol reached out and touched his fingers to Kyungsoo’s lips and said, “Stop doing this.”

Kyungsoo sat still, surprised that Chanyeol would touch him like this, and Chanyeol seemed to realize what he was doing as well, as his eyes dropped down to where his fingers were still on Kyungsoo’s lips. Chanyeol then let his pointer finger follow the shape of them, and Kyungsoo took a little breath.

“Your lips really are shaped like a heart,” Chanyeol said, and Kyungsoo didn’t know what to do.

He knew Chanyeol said he wasn’t into him, or guys in general, but Kyungsoo also knew that was a half-truth. Maybe this was Kyungsoo’s moment to help Chanyeol realize that he might like Kyungsoo more than he thought he did. So Kyungsoo took a chance, and he pursed his lips to give Chanyeol’s finger a soft kiss.

Chanyeol startled and looked at him stunned.

Kyungsoo wanted to tell him that he started it, but he figured words would ruin whatever moment they were having, and regardless of how brief it would probably be, Kyungsoo knew how to take a chance when he had the opportunity to. He dropped his knees down, so that he could cross his legs, and scooted closer to him, patting Chanyeol’s knees so that he got the hint to drop them down and sit in the same way.

Chanyeol did, and Kyungsoo felt victorious. He knew he only had one chance at this, and he knew that it could ruin everything, that Chanyeol could react terribly and kick him out, and that they would never speak to each other again.

He was willing to take that chance.

He leaned in, waiting for Chanyeol to stop him or ask him what he was doing, and when he didn’t, Kyungsoo leaned in more, reaching his destination as he pressed his lips against Chanyeol’s. When Chanyeol didn’t push him away, Kyungsoo kissed him more, soft and gentle, and then, as if by some kind of magic, Chanyeol began to move his lips as well, kissing him back, in the same way, copying each thing he did.

Kyungsoo could sense that Chanyeol wanted more, that maybe he needed this, so Kyungsoo lifted his hand to cup Chanyeol’s face, to let his fingers caress the skin of Chanyeol’s jaw and neck, and again, Chanyeol did the same to him.

He almost combusted at the touch of Chanyeol’s large hand on his own jaw, and his thumb gently passed over Kyungsoo’s ear lobe, which made a nice sensation ripple up his spine.

Chanyeol then finally made his own move. Instead of copying Kyungsoo, he moved his hand down, over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, and then down to Kyungsoo’s side, holding Kyungsoo’s waist, which made Kyungsoo moan without meaning to.

The kissing didn’t stop. They didn’t bother to break it at any point, even when they adjusted the positions of their heads. Kyungsoo deepened the kiss a little, tugging on Chanyeol’s bottom lip before pressing his lips to his again to kiss him with more intensity. And Chanyeol felt that intensity, his hand gripping Kyungsoo’s waist more as he released a little whimper of want that betrayed him and indicated to Kyungsoo that he was more than welcome to slide his tongue in and see where that would take them.

Chanyeol whimpered again at this and pulled Kyungsoo forward as if begging him to come closer without saying it, and Kyungsoo decided to oblige him, keeping their lips together as he somehow scooted and pushed himself up enough to sit on Chanyeol’s lap, wrapping his arms around his neck as he flicked his tongue against Chanyeol’s, whose hand now slid beneath Kyungsoo’s shirt to cradle his back, putting pressure to keep Kyungsoo as close to him as possible.

Chanyeol’s fingers on Kyungsoo’s bare skin of his back electrified him, and he had no intentions of letting up. He was sitting on Chanyeol’s lap, kissing him, touching him, and being touched in return. As much as it felt like Chanyeol needed this, Kyungsoo felt he needed it more. It had been so long since he had made out with someone, and his body had been missing it more than he had realized.

But then, finally, Chanyeol pulled away. Kyungsoo took a deep breath and looked at him to find that Chanyeol looked dazed.

Kyungsoo waited for his reaction to the realization of what had just happened, but when one didn’t come, he decided to prod him by saying, “You’re a good kisser.”

Chanyeol looked at him surprised, then said, “I’ve never kissed like that before.”

Kyungsoo noticed his voice was tentative and a little shaky, and he predicted that Chanyeol would soon start to freak out, so he calmly said, “Then you’re a natural,” as he moved off Chanyeol’s lap and sat back against his bed, watching him carefully.

Confusion appeared on Chanyeol’s face and he looked down at his lap, licking his lips in thought, and then he looked back up at Kyungsoo and his eyes looked unsure.

“I don’t know… what… just happened,” Chanyeol managed to croak out, barely audible.

“Nothing happened,” Kyungsoo said, wanting to do his best to keep him calm. “We just kissed.”

“I’m not gay,” Chanyeol said to him, looking at him with wide eyes that wanted to be believed.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said.

“I’m not,” Chanyeol said, not satisfied with Kyungsoo’s reaction to his statement. “I don’t know what happened.”

Kyungsoo pulled his knees up again, wrapping his arms around them again to hold them close to himself. He had to hold on tightly because he knew this conversation was about to be terrible. It was fine. He didn’t care. Chanyeol could stay in denial forever. He was used to it anyway. Yixing dumped him without ever admitting in the year and a half that they were together that he was gay. Yixing also never admitted that he loved him, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.

“Nothing happened,” Kyungsoo said, hating how his chest tightened when he said it. “You were just experimenting.”

Chanyeol’s eyes went bright, and Kyungsoo almost sarcastically said “you’re welcome” for giving him the out, but instead he stayed quiet. It was what Yixing had always said when they hooked up. He was just experimenting, like if Kyungsoo was a lab rat that would be discarded once Yixing was done with his research. Oh wait, that’s exactly what he had ended up being and what Yixing had ended up doing. The asshole.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded. “I mean, that’s what college is for, right? To experience new things.”

“Yep,” Kyungsoo said, flatly.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said as if mentally telling himself that this was all perfectly fine. “Experimenting is fun. I don’t mind experimenting.”

“Of course you don’t,” Kyungsoo mumbled.

“We can keep experimenting then,” Chanyeol then said, and Kyungsoo closed his eyes.

Of course they could. They could experiment for years, and Kyungsoo would be stuck in the same situation he was before, completely falling in love with a guy that was never going to really love him back. It had been painful the first time, and he didn’t care to go through it again. Not even with Chanyeol, who he thought was hot, and funny, and fascinating, and stupidly easy to talk to.

“Unless… you don’t want to?” Chanyeol sounded tentative again, and Kyungsoo opened his eyes and looked at him again.

“I think you should keep experimenting if that’s what you want to do,” Kyungsoo said, “But you should probably find someone else to experiment with.”

“No,” Chanyeol said, looking panicked all over again, “Why? I like experimenting with you. Jisoo said…” he paused, his brows doing that thing again where they knitted together in thought, “well… she said that I might be Kyungsoo-sexual, which is just weird, but I think what she meant is that, since I’m not into guys, but I like hanging out with you, that you would be the only person I would ever experiment like this with.”

Kyungsoo wanted to yell at him that he was very wrong and that wasn’t what Jisoo had meant, but instead, he stayed quiet and blinked, not knowing what to say, and then Chanyeol said the worst thing possible that he could have said at that moment.

“You’re like… the only person I trust enough to do something like this with.”

Fuck fuck fuck. Kyungsoo didn’t need to hear that. This was so bad, and Kyungsoo had to try and figure out a way to make sure he didn’t succumb to the sudden neediness in Chanyeol’s voice. And then he remembered that he had an “out” as well.

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo said, “but I’ve started seeing someone, so it wouldn’t be fair to them if I did this with you while dating them.”

He wasn’t lying. It wouldn’t be fair at all considering that kissing Taeyong had been nice but kissing Chanyeol had lit all his senses on fire. Taeyong amused him, but Chanyeol captivated him. There was no competition.

“That guy from Lisa’s birthday?” Chanyeol asked, in a way where he already knew the answer.

“Yeah, Taeyong,” Kyungsoo confirmed, needing to say his name for his own resolve.

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, not able to hide the disappointment on his face. “So, it’s that serious?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said, “I mean, not yet. But it could get there. We were supposed to have our second date, but my screen test ended up happening that day, so it got pushed to this Friday night.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said again, and then he looked more confused, but then he threw a question at Kyungsoo that he hadn’t been expecting, “So then why did you kiss me?”

Kyungsoo probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Why had he kissed him? Because he had wanted to. Because he had been wanting to, and he saw the moment, and he took it.

“Like I told you before,” Kyungsoo said, clearing his throat a little, “I was attracted to you, and… you were touching my lips in a way that made me wonder if you were attracted to me, so I took a chance to see if you were by kissing you.”

Chanyeol’s mouth was parted as he listened and processed this.

Before he could think too further about it, Kyungsoo added, “But you’re just experimenting, so, obviously you’re not attracted to me. At least, not in the same way I’m attracted to you.”

“Right, I’m experimenting,” Chanyeol said to himself in a way where he didn’t seem sure if that was true anymore.

But Kyungsoo knew that Chanyeol needed it to be true, so somehow, he would make it true.

“I should go,” Kyungsoo then said, pushing himself up from the floor.

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, standing up as well. “I thought we were going to watch movies.”

“I just realized that I can’t actually skip my next class,” Kyungsoo lied. “So, I should just go.”

“Oh, okay,” Chanyeol said, crossing his arms as he watched him.

Kyungsoo pulled his sneakers back on and grabbed his backpack.

“Maybe we can watch movies another time then,” Chanyeol said, following him to the door.

“Sure,” Kyungsoo nodded.

And then he left, grateful when he heard the door finally close behind him as he hurried to the elevator.

He knew he had done this to himself, but he didn’t care. It had been worth it to check, even if the outcome was exactly what he thought it would be. Chanyeol would get over it, and they could probably go back to being friends that hung out again, but at least now Kyungsoo knew what it was like to kiss him.

That part had been worth it. He could still feel Chanyeol’s big hands on his back, and the thought made his spine tingle again. He wished Chanyeol would figure it out. He wished Chanyeol would call him and say that maybe he wasn’t experimenting, maybe he really was attracted to him, maybe they should try this out. He’d give anything for that to happen because Kyungsoo knew that he wasn’t wrong about Chanyeol, just like he knew that Chanyeol and he were practically made for each other with how well they got along and how they had clicked so easily. It wasn’t fair.

Once he was outside, he realized that he had nowhere to really go. He still didn’t want to go back to the apartment and run into Jongdae, and he still didn’t want to go to class. He then wondered if Baekhyun was around.

He texted him, and in hopes that he was, headed in the direction of his dorm building instead. When Baekhyun texted back that he was in a class but could head back to the dorm right after, Kyungsoo texted him back to let him know that he’d wait for him outside.

Kyungsoo took the time to sit on a bench and distract himself from everything by reading through his lines in the script again. He used the time to figure out how he wanted his character to react to certain things and got so caught up trying out different deliveries that he didn’t realize time had passed so quickly. Next thing he knew, Baekhyun was talking his ear off about the music class he had just left and leading him up to his dorm room.

Once again, his roommate was not present.

“Why are we skipping class?” Baekhyun asked him, pulling out soda cans for them from his mini-fridge and handing one to Kyungsoo.

“So many reasons,” Kyungsoo said, opening the can and taking a drink, then realizing he was hungry. “Let’s order food.”

“You read my mind,” Baekhyun said, grabbing his phone. He sat on his bed and patted it so that Kyungsoo knew to join him.

Kyungsoo sat on Baekhyun’s bed with him and listened as Baekhyun rattled off options on his DoorDash app.

“I’m good with tacos,” Kyungsoo told him, and Baekhyun placed the order for them, then put his phone down and gave Kyungsoo his undivided attention.

“So what’s going on?”

Where did Kyungsoo even start? The day had been more eventful than he had planned, and now on top of being upset with Jongdae, he was also bummed about Chanyeol.

“Have you talked to Jongdae yet?” Kyungsoo decided to tackle first. “Like, since this weekend or anything?”

“No,” Baekhyun said, shaking his head and now looking concerned.

Kyungsoo sighed and hoped Jongdae wouldn’t mind if he told him. “He stupidly knocked up his ex-girlfriend and just found out about it and is now getting married to her,” Kyungsoo said, very sarcastically with bitterness playing on his words.

“Whoa, what?” Baekhyun said, blinking in disbelief.

“It’s a mess,” Kyungsoo said. “Everything is so dumb right now. Jongin and I tried to talk to him about other options, but it didn’t matter because his dad’s making him get married anyway to save the reputation of the cult.”

“Oh my God,” Baekhyun said, brows furrowing a little, “Poor Jongdae.”

“Yeah, poor stupid Jongdae. Like, why? Now I’m out a roommate next year, and now we’ll never see him again because he’s going to be stuck with Wendy who flat out told him that she doesn’t care about him anymore after he had dumped her. He’s so dumb for getting himself into this stupid situation.”

Baekhyun had the audacity to give an amused smile, and he reached over and gave Kyungsoo’s knee several pats.

“There there. I know this is upsetting because it changes things, but at least you’re not the one stuck getting married. Shit happens, you know? It’s not his fault that he was living his life and one mistake out of many caught up to him. We’ve all done stupid shit, or forgotten to wrap it up, or did it wrong and had it break or fall off at the wrong time. We’re just lucky it didn’t have consequences. Jongdae didn’t get lucky one time. It’s just life.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes and nodded. He knew Baekhyun was right, and he really needed to stop making this about himself. Jongdae was having a hard time, and Kyungsoo needed to be there for him right now.

“Fair,” Kyungsoo said, letting out another deep breath. “I’m just being selfish.”

“You have a right to be,” Baekhyun let him know. “This affects you too. But it affects you way less than it’s going to affect him for the rest of his life.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo nodded, to let him know that he really did understand. “I just hate how everything’s going to change.”

“Eh, change is change,” Baekhyun shrugged. “Besides, you’re dropping out soon anyway now that you’re going to be in movies and stuff.”

Kyungsoo snorted and said, “That’s what Chanyeol said.”

“Well, he’s right,” Baekhyun affirmed, giving Kyungsoo’s knee a final squeeze before shifting around and grabbing one of his pillows to hold on his lap as he faced him better.

“Speaking of Chanyeol…” Kyungsoo went ahead and segued. Baekhyun had made him feel a little better about Jongdae, so maybe he could work his magic on his Chanyeol issue as well. “I just came from seeing him. Like I was at his dorm before this one.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said surprised, “Wow, you’ve been skipping all day.”

“I couldn’t concentrate on anything with the whole Jongdae thing on my mind,” he explained, and Baekhyun said that it was understandable. Kyungsoo then continued, “So I went to hang out with Chanyeol, and I told him about it, and we talked, and somehow…” Kyungsoo’s lips twisted, unsure of how to explain it, but Baekhyun waited him out and he finally said, “We ended up making out.”

“Oh my God,” Baekhyun said, and he put his hand on his chest and looked surprised, “My heart just leapt. Wait, wait, wait, what?”

“It was… unexpected,” Kyungsoo made sure to say. “He was talking about my pout, and next thing I know, he has his fingers on my lips, and it led to kissing, and then I was on his lap and the kissing intensified, and … then it just stopped. Like, he just stopped it and looked confused about everything.”

“Hold on. I need a minute,” Baekhyun said, putting up a finger as he looked like he had to mentally understand what he had been told. And then when he appeared to have it, he simply said, “Whoa.”

“I could see that he was about to have a huge freak-out,” Kyungsoo told him. “So I gave him an out. I told him that it was okay to experiment, and he suddenly calmed down and seemed to be okay with it. Which… I kinda wanted to slap him for it, but whatever. And then he said he wanted to keep experimenting with me, and I just…” Kyungsoo felt so conflicted about this all over again. He suddenly thought that maybe there wasn’t any harm in doing it, but then he thought of Yixing again. “I knew it would be like Yixing all over again. So I told him that I was starting to see someone and that it wouldn’t be fair to him if I kept experimenting with him. And then I left. So now I’m here.”

Kyungsoo noticed that Baekhyun seemed to look a little proud of him as he gave him a warm smile.

“That’s good,” Baekhyun said. “That you realized it would be another Yixing situation. Because it would have been. Chanyeol’s just not there yet, and there’s no point in waiting for him to come around. If anything, giving him that out and continuing to do it with him would just make him put off facing the truth longer.”

Kyungsoo nodded because that was a really good point, and he felt relieved that he had done the right thing, even though he would give anything to kiss Chanyeol again the way that they had kissed just moments ago.

“It’s interesting that he even did that with you,” Baekhyun then said, as if thinking of something else, and then he focused on Kyungsoo again and said, “We had a huge fight with him over the weekend about it.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo wondered if that was why he had looked so down in class.

“Yeah, Jisoo pretty much tried to bully him into admitting he wasn’t straight, and it got kind of ugly. He wouldn’t talk to us, and we both tried to call him the rest of the day, but he ignored our calls and texts. He finally texted me back yesterday to say he was fine and that I could stop checking up on him. Jisoo apologized to him too. She told him how mad I was at her for bullying him into coming out and that she didn’t realize that’s what she was doing. She let him know that she just wanted him to be happy, and I think Chanyeol finally understood that and told her it was okay and that he wasn’t mad at her. But I would think, after all that, he’d avoid anything that might suggest she was right.”

Kyungsoo would have thought that too, and now he found it interesting that Chanyeol had let their making out happen in the first place.

“Maybe part of what Jisoo said sunk in a bit,” Kyungsoo offered. Not sure what else it could have been.

“Maybe,” Baekhyun said. “I’m still mad at her though, and she knows it. She apologized to me too for bringing me into it to prove her point. Either way, she knows I’m upset, but it’s honestly fine. I was thinking we needed to cool off our thing anyway. This was a good catalyst for that.”

“Oh, really?” Kyungsoo said, surprised. “Why were you thinking you needed to cool it off?”

“There’s no way to say this without sounding egotistical,” Baekhyun pointed out, “But I’m really good at sensing when people are starting to get too attached. It was starting to feel more like a relationship than a casual thing, and if she wants a relationship, she needs to start looking elsewhere.”

“Yeah that sounds egotistical,” Kyungsoo teased him.

“I knooow,” Baekhyun whined. “But it’s the truth. I love Jisoo, and she’ll always be one of my closest friends, but I want her to find the right person for her. She’s going to be a powerful lawyer soon enough, and she’s going to need someone that can be there for her and support her career ambitions. I’m going to be on tour all the time with my band, so there’s no way I could ever be that person for her.”

“You make a good point,” Kyungsoo acknowledged, and the idea of being the right person for someone made him think about Chanyeol all over again. “I wish…” he began, then stopped himself, not wanting to sound pathetic about this.

“You wish?” Baekhyun asked him, shifting again. It amazed Kyungsoo how Baekhyun could never sit still for too long.

“It’s stupid, but I keep thinking that Chanyeol and I would be perfect together if he just came to his senses,” Kyungsoo went ahead and admitted. Baekhyun was one of the few people he knew he could be this pathetic in front of anyway.

“Aw,” Baekhyun said in understanding. “I think he’ll get there eventually, Soo. When the time is right, if you’re not taken, maybe you guys will make it work.”

“I’m impatient,” Kyungsoo remarked, and Baekhyun laughed at him. “It’s dumb, but this is how I felt about Yixing. Like I knew we were meant to be together. Why do I keep falling for guys who don’t really want to be with me?”

“Maybe there’s something about the challenge that attracts you,” Baekhyun said as if more than happy to play therapist and come up with theories. “Maybe you like the ones that you can draw out of their closet because it makes you feel special that you were the one that did it. Maybe you’re a masochist.”

“I’m a masochist,” Kyungsoo nodded. “That one feels right. I clearly hate myself and like to get emotionally beat up on.”

Baekhyun laughed and shoved at Kyungsoo’s shoulder, but then he shook his head and said, “I still can’t believe you and Chanyeol made out. I can’t stop thinking about this. And the fact that he hasn’t called me to freak out about it.”

“He’s probably convinced himself by now that nothing happened,” Kyungsoo said with snark.

“Maybe,” Baekhyun considered, “Chanyeol does have interesting ways of dealing with things.”

“I need to be more like you,” Kyungsoo then said. “Just mess around with different people and not get attached.”

“Nah, it wouldn’t suit you,” Baekhyun told him. “You’re too much of an emo romantic for that. God, I just thought about Jongdae again. It made me think of how cute he and Lisa were together and how she never took that beanie off after her birthday. Talk about emo romantic.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, wondering how that conversation had gone, or was going, or was going to go if it hadn’t been had yet. He realized that Jongdae probably would need him around tonight to talk about it and be there for him. “I think that’s the part he’s most upset about. The Lisa thing was so good for him.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun agreed. “I never knew Wendy. Like I remember hearing about her, and him mentioning her from time to time, but I’ve never met her or anything.”

“She was boring. Super nice. I didn’t have an issue with her or anything, but she was one of the good girls from his church. Like, she’s actually a good person who’s majoring in Education and wants to teach kids and make the world a better place.”

“Well…” Baekhyun said, “At least he’s marrying a good person?”

“Not anymore,” Kyungsoo said looking annoyed for Jongdae again, “She told him that, after he dumped her, she changed and then basically told him that she didn’t care about him or what he did and her focus is only on being a good mother.”

Baekhyun groaned and looked upset, “That’s not fair to Dae.”

“Also, now he has to deal with her best friends, who hate him. After the breakup, they accused him of all this stuff that wasn’t true and made him out to seem like some sort of evil person when all he wanted was a break from having Wendy constantly checking up on him and being overbearing. Like he couldn’t hang out with us without her calling him and asking if he was okay all the time.” Kyungsoo was starting to get frustrated about it all over again.

“It sounds like it’s a good thing she changed then,” Baekhyun remarked. “Better she doesn’t pay attention to him at all than be annoying.”

“I guess,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “Or she could’ve been a normal person like Lisa who was just cool and treated him like a normal human being.”

“That too. I’m going to have to spend more time with him to help him keep his spirits up. He’s going to need it.”

“He is,” Kyungsoo said, knowing that he needed to do the same. Jongdae didn’t have to go through this alone, and if Wendy was going to have her annoying friends around all the time, then they needed to make sure to be there for Jongdae too.

After their tacos arrived, they ate and talked about Kyungsoo’s movie and Baekhyun’s progress with his music career. Baekhyun shared with Kyungsoo that he knew for a fact that Selena Gomez had seen his covers of her song that he’d been performing around town at open mic nights. He had a friend, who had a friend, who was friends with one of her friends who had apparently told her about it and to check it out.

“Our time is coming,” Baekhyun told him, now that they were sitting on the floor eating.

“It is,” Kyungsoo said with a big smile. “We’re going to drop out soon. I can feel it.”

“Same. Well, you know, since we’re both dropping out soon, and since we don’t have roommates lined up for next year, I guess I’ll just be your roommate.” Baekhyun said it with a sigh as if he was doing him a favor.

“I didn’t ask,” Kyungsoo said, playing along with Baekhyun’s act. He raised an eyebrow at him to act as if he was serious.

“You didn’t have to,” Baekhyun said, “It was written all over your face. You’re welcome.”

“I’m perfectly capable of living on my own,” Kyungsoo stated, keeping up the ruse.

“Stop begging, I said I’d do it,” Baekhyun practically yelled at him annoyed, and Kyungsoo broke character and started cracking up because Baekhyun was too funny to ignore sometimes.

“Fine, I’ll let you live with me,” Kyungsoo then said, trying to be serious again.

Baekhyun smirked and said, “The things I do for you,” then added a dramatic sigh.

But Kyungsoo was smiling at him, and he finally said, “Thank you,” really not having thought about asking Baekhyun but realizing that if he was going to have to find someone to replace Jongdae in the apartment, he couldn’t have thought of a better option.

“Anything for you, Soo Soo,” Baekhyun said, and he blew him a kiss before happily shoving half a taco into his mouth.

***

When he got back home, Jongdae wasn’t there yet, so he decided to chill and play Super Smash Brothers while he waited for him. At least he physically played, mentally he was replaying making out with Chanyeol in his room, sitting on his lap, oh my God had he actually been sitting on his lap? And Chanyeol had held him, had let his fingers wander. He had wanted it just as bad as Kyungsoo had. How could he not realize that? How could he fight against it? Why would he?

His thoughts were finally interrupted by the door opening and closing. He watched as Jongdae walked straight to his room and closed the door.

This wasn’t good.

Kyungsoo grabbed his phone to text Jongin to let him know that Jongdae was back, and then he headed to Jongdae’s room to find him on his bed lying on his stomach, face buried in his pillow.

He sat on the bed and rubbed Jongdae’s back, asking him, “Wanna talk about it?”

Jongdae took deep breaths before turning just enough so he could look at him. His face was red, and it was clear that all his tears had been spilled on his drive home.

“I really liked her,” Jongdae said, and he sounded so sad that Kyungsoo had to pout.

“I know,” he assured his best friend, rubbing his arm.

“She was so upset,” he continued on, even though it was clear that he found it hard to do so. “I made her upset, just like I had made Wendy upset when I broke up with her. And now Lisa will probably hate me forever, like how Wendy hates me.”

“What did she say?” Kyungsoo asked.

“She didn’t say a lot. Just that she couldn’t believe it, and that she couldn’t believe that she wasted her time on me. She was wearing the beanie I had given her, and she yanked it off her head and threw it at me and told me to have a nice life with my wife and kid. Then she left. And that was it. I knew there was no point in running after her, so I gave the beanie to the barista and left.”

“I’m so sorry, Dae,” Kyungsoo said, feeling horrible for him all over again.

“I guess I should just be grateful that I got to date someone that amazing in the first place,” Jongdae then said, already trying to spin everything so that he could move on. “I’m lucky in that respect.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, wondering if he could apply that to himself. He supposed he should be grateful that he had at least gotten to kiss Chanyeol considering he never thought it would happen. He supposed luck was what you made it.

“Anyways,” Jongdae said, taking another deep breath and letting it out before continuing, “Now that that’s done, I can focus on this sermon I get to give on Easter Sunday.”

“Are you really doing it?” Kyungsoo said surprised. “Can’t he just make an announcement?”

“Nope, that wouldn’t be punishment enough. It’s okay. I don’t even care about it anymore. I just want to get it done and over with.”

“Would it help if Nini and I were there?” Kyungsoo then thought.

“I wouldn’t subject you guys to that.”

Kyungsoo knew Wendy’s friends would definitely be there, and he knew that he and Jongin couldn’t leave Jongdae alone surrounded by so many people that disliked him.

“We’ll be there,” Kyungsoo told him. “Just tell us what time it’s at.”

“Really?” Jongdae said, looking surprised and hopeful.

“Of course,” Kyungsoo told him, giving him a bright smile.

And Jongdae thanked him, but not with words. Instead, he sat up and wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo held him tight.


	25. Chapter 25

Chanyeol had a lot on his mind, and he realized that he had no one to talk to about it. He didn’t want to tell Jisoo that he and Kyungsoo had kissed because she would take it the wrong way and say that she told him so without understanding that she was wrong. He didn’t want to tell Baekhyun because he’d probably get the wrong idea too.

He realized he needed more friends.

And he also needed to stop replaying the kiss in his mind. Every time he did, he felt his body react, as if the whole thing had lit a spark inside of him that now needed to explode. He had no idea what to do about it. Which is why he ended up at the gym, looking for Minseok and finding him over by the weights talking to a girl who was doing leg curls.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said, waving at him as he got closer.

Minseok waved back looking surprised to see him, and Chanyeol knew what was coming next.

“Chanyeol Park in a gym during off-season?” Minseok said and pretended to gasp in shock. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Haha,” Chanyeol said, but he smiled wider and asked, “How have you been?”

“Busy,” Minseok said. “I got pulled in to help out with the baseball team, so that’s cutting into my precious thesis-writing time.”

“Don’t bring that up,” Chanyeol groaned, “I keep forgetting you’re going to abandon me after next year.”

“I bring it up so that you don’t forget and make sure I get a championship before I graduate,” Minseok pointed out.

“Fine, next year it is,” Chanyeol promised, and then he scratched the back of his neck and said. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure,” Minseok said, looking at him carefully, and then suggesting, “Let’s go out on the patio.”

Chanyeol nodded, grateful, and followed Minseok outside, sitting with him at one of the tables on the patio of the athletic center.

“What’s up?” Minseok asked him.

Chanyeol held his hands together on the table like he had something important to say, but really, he was stalling and trying to figure out how to best approach this subject.

“You know how they say that college is the time to experiment and have new experiences?”

Minseok seemed confused by this question at first, and then seemed to consider it, and he nodded.

“Yeah, they do say that,” he agreed.

“Was that true for you?” Chanyeol asked him, thinking it safer to find that out first. “Like, I know you’re a grad student now and it’s probably different. But as an undergrad, did you experiment?”

“Not really,” Minseok said, narrowing his eyes in thought, “I’m not sure how you mean exactly. Like, I tried pot for the first time in college, and drank to the point of blackout one time, but outside of that, no, not really.”

Maybe Chanyeol had picked the wrong person to talk to. He cleared his throat and looked down at his hands for a minute, attempting to mentally regroup his strategy here.

“Chanyeol, just say what you want to tell me,” Minseok then said. “I’m listening, and it’s obvious you need to get something off your chest.”

“Kyungsoo kissed me,” he rushed out before he changed his mind about saying anything, and he looked up at Minseok, who didn’t seem surprised or shocked like Chanyeol had expected, so he kept going. “And I kissed him. And we kissed a lot. And I liked it a lot, which is really weird because I’m straight.”

Minseok raised a solitary eyebrow, but when he didn’t ask him anything, Chanyeol continued.

“I guess I’m confused about it because it’s obviously just me experimenting, and, I guess, seeing what it was like to kiss a guy, but… I’m confused because I wanted to keep doing it.”

Minseok continued to look at him, and then he seemed to be thinking as if choosing his words carefully. Chanyeol wasn’t sure he was prepared to hear what he had to say, but he waited for him to say it anyway. He watched as Minseok leaned forward, holding his hands on the table now much as Chanyeol had been doing.

“Chanyeol,” Minseok began, and Chanyeol already knew from his tone that this was probably going to hurt his feelings, so he attempted to steel himself. “Have you ever taken any psychology classes related to the subject or Psychology in general?”

Chanyeol shook his head and Minseok smiled at him and nodded, then continued.

“Well, I have. I had considered a career in sports psychology at some point but then realized that I liked working with the physical aspect of sports better. It took a lot of psych classes to make me realize that,” Minseok said with a chuckle, and Chanyeol smiled at him. “Anyway,” Minseok continued, “you learn in psychology that sexual orientation is determined by a number of influences. Society makes it seem like it’s a choice that some people make, but it’s not. It’s a natural, complex, biological part of human beings.”

Chanyeol nodded, following along, but not sure what point Minseok was trying to make.

“Imagine a line,” Minseok said, using his finger to draw an imaginary line on the table. “On this side of the line, you have heterosexuality, on the opposite side, you have homosexuality.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol said, nodding.

“When people think of sexual orientation,” Minseok explained, “they tend to only think of these two points on the line because it’s what everyone talks about the most. Either you’re straight or you're gay. But in reality, people’s sexual orientation can fall anywhere on this line, or not at all, like in the case of asexuality. If it lands here,” Minseok said, as he pointed in between heterosexual and homosexual, “then this is probably a person that identifies as bisexual and is sexually attracted to men and women.”

Chanyeol felt his stomach do a little flip as he realized where Minseok was going with this.

“Now, you say you’re over here,” Minseok said, pointing to where the imaginary heterosexual dot would be. “But you and Kyungsoo kissed and you liked it. You felt attracted to him, and you wouldn’t mind kissing him again, right?”

Chanyeol bit his lip but nodded. It was true. He had to admit that he really wouldn’t mind kissing Kyungsoo again.

“Okay, so maybe that moves you a little bit over on the line,” Minseok said, moving his finger over just a nudge so that it was still close to the heterosexual dot. “There’s no label ascribed to every spot on the line because it’s infinite. And it’s all more complex than what this line illustrates, but this is the easiest way to explain it. Ultimately, what people choose to label themselves is very personal and up to them.”

“But I am heterosexual,” Chanyeol said, even though what Minseok said had made perfect sense. “I’m just experimenting. It’s a fun, phase thing that I’ll probably never do again once I leave college.”

“You kissing Kyungsoo was the experiment. You liking it and wanting to do it again was the result of the experiment. It’s not experimenting once you find the answer you were looking for by experimenting in the first place,” Minseok pointed out, and Chanyeol deflated again.

His gaze dropped to his hands, suddenly thinking he shouldn’t have brought this up at all.

“If you had kissed,” Minseok continued, maybe thinking Chanyeol didn’t understand, “and you still weren’t sure about it, that would have been different. Maybe at that point, you’d try and kiss another boy to see if you liked it then, and maybe once until you knew whether or not you really liked kissing boys. But you did it, and you know that you liked it. Experiment over.”

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Chanyeol said instead, not looking at Minseok.

“Why?” Minseok asked him, and something in his tone made Chanyeol look up at him, noticing the concerned look on his face. “Are your parents homophobic?”

“No,” Chanyeol said, “I mean they’ve never talked about it. It’s never come up.”

“Are you afraid of what they might think if they found out you were bisexual?”

“I’m not bisexual,” Chanyeol said, maybe a little more annoyed than he needed to be.

Minseok put out a hand motioning for him to calm down then apologized, “I’m sorry. You identify as straight, and I respect that. But hypothetically speaking, do you think they’d have a problem with it?”

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol said, never having thought of it. Why would he have thought of it? The whole idea was ridiculous. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

“I know it’s a lot to think about,” Minseok assured him. “Research has shown that people who conceal their sexual orientation have more mental health issues than people who don’t, so maybe take some time to think about everything we’ve talked about today and really assess it. Also, I’m not a psychiatrist or an expert, but I can direct you to someone that’s certified on these things to talk to if you want.”

Chanyeol nodded slowly, feeling too numb to say anything else, and he stood up and mumbled a “thanks” to Minseok then left the athletic center.

***

Chanyeol thought a lot about what Minseok had told him. He had understood everything that Minseok had said, and he knew that it made sense, but he still felt like everyone was ignoring the part where he was straight. And then it finally occurred to him that maybe the reason people thought that was because he kept talking to everyone about Kyungsoo, but he wasn’t talking to anyone about any girls that he liked.

If he had a girlfriend, people would realize that he hadn’t been lying. And that’s when he decided that he was going to make Nayeon his girlfriend.

The only problem was that they hadn’t really spoken to each other since their date at Perch. She had texted him to ask how he was doing, and he had texted back that he was doing fine, but it hadn’t gone further than that. However, he owed her a second date, and he took out his phone as he walked toward the direction of her apartment after class, texting her to ask if she was at her place.

Luckily, she was, and he got her permission to come over. That calmed him, making him feel like this was meant to be and that he was making the right decision by going to her.

She greeted him outside as he walked up the entranceway to the apartment building, and he smiled at her and hugged her when she leaned in for one. He then followed her into the building and up to the second floor, and she let him in while apologizing for it being a little messy.

“This is nothing compared to my place,” he reassured her, and he looked around, not finding anything messy outside of backpacks and laptops on the table and a couple of shirts hanging over a chair.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked, “We have sparkling water and kombucha.”

“I’m fine right now,” Chanyeol told her, “but thank you.”

“Sure,” Nayeon said, “Just let me know if you change your mind.” She led him to the living room and then sat down on the couch.

He sat beside her and looked around, taking in the strings of lighted stars hanging on the wall over the flatscreen TV.

“So why’d you want to come over?” Nayeon asked him, getting his attention back on her.

“Oh,” he said, “I just wanted to see you.”

Nayeon smiled really wide, and Chanyeol gave himself a point. He said something right with her finally.

“I’ve been looking forward to our second date,” she said, sounding eager.

“Yeah, me too,” Chanyeol said, “I was thinking we’d do dinner and a movie.”

“That sounds fun,” she said.

And then he cleared his throat because he had run out of things to say. Why was it so easy to talk with Kyungsoo and so hard to talk with her? And then he felt a rush of panic hit his chest as he thought about everything Minseok had told him. No, he liked Nayeon. He thought she was cute, and he was sure he’d like kissing her too when they started kissing the way that he and Kyungsoo had.

“Are you okay?” she asked him, and he realized he had completely zoned out because of his panic.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Chanyeol said, letting out a sharp breath, “I just thought of something I forgot to do.”

“Hm,” she said, looking at him unconvinced, and then she said, “You know, I’m not sure if you actually like me or not.”

“What?” Chanyeol was caught by surprise by this honesty.

“It’s like… you’re nice to me, but then you get weird around me, and I can’t figure it out.”

“No, I like you,” Chanyeol said, “Obviously, I like you.”

“Then why are you so nervous right now?”

Crap. Was he being that obvious? How did he save this situation before she kicked him out and he lost his chance at a girlfriend?

“I’m just nervous because…” Chanyeol had to think fast, and then he went with the simplest thing he could, “…I want to kiss you.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes surprised, but then she smiled and said, “You can kiss me.”

“I can?” Chanyeol said, not expecting her to say that.

“You can,” she said, amused. And then she scooted closer to him, and Chanyeol felt his nerves start to rattle.

“Oh, okay,” he said, and he cleared his throat and leaned in as well, then gave her a quick peck on the lips and then pulled back and smiled at her.

It took Nayeon a moment to react as if she expected him to do something else, and when he didn’t, she sat up straight again and let out a terse sigh.

He lost his smile. He could tell he hadn’t done that right. It felt so awkward compared to how easily he had gotten lost in the moment with Kyungsoo, and that had been before they had even kissed. Now he wanted to cry.

“Why are you so scared of kissing me?” Nayeon asked him.

Chanyeol felt so deflated that he dropped his pretenses because this wasn’t going to work anyway. Who was he kidding? Maybe Baekhyun was right and he needed to try another girl.

“I’m…” Chanyeol said, now feeling like a complete loser, “not good at this.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Nayeon said.

He sighed and looked at her, then for the first time since he had been getting to know her, he decided to be completely honest.

“I’ve never done this.”

Nayeon looked unsure.

“Never done what?”

“Dated someone,” Chanyeol told her, and she looked surprised again. “I don’t date. I just focus on basketball and music. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’ve only kissed like two girls in my life, well three including you, and it was never… I mean, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“This makes so much sense now,” she said, nodding and looking a little relieved. “I was trying to figure out why you were awkward around me.”

“It’s because I don’t know what I’m doing,” he admitted. “But I want to know. I’m trying.”

“No, I get it,” Nayeon nodded. “I just can’t believe you’ve never dated before. You’re so hot. And you’re the star basketball player on campus. I was sure you had a line of girls you just went through.”

“Not at all,” he said, a little disturbed by the idea. “I’m just lame and inexperienced.”

“Wait,” Nayeon said, looking as if she just realized something, “so are you… a virgin?”

Chanyeol knew he blushed, but what did it matter at this point? He might as well give all his secrets away.

“Yeah,” he said, softly, but knowing she could hear him.

“That’s…” Nayeon looked at him in a way she hadn’t before, like maybe she was endeared. “…so pure.”

Chanyeol groaned, and Nayeon laughed and grabbed his hand.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’m just… surprised by all this. But it’s not bad. It’s actually good. Now it all makes sense.”

“I’m glad it makes sense now then,” Chanyeol said, glad something did for someone. He was still confused, and now also, an embarrassed mess.

“Well, since you’re here,” Nayeon said with a smirk, “why don’t I show you how I like to kiss?”

“Um, sure, okay,” Chanyeol said, relieved that she didn’t want him to just go away for not being who she probably had hoped he’d be.

Nayeon scooted even closer to him now, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in to kiss him, and it was certainly different than how he had tried to kiss her, and extremely different from how Kyungsoo had kissed him.

Unlike Kyungsoo, who had gone slow and started off gently, Nayeon was giving him a kiss that took him a little off guard, and he had to mentally catch up to match her pace and the pressure that she was applying.

When she pulled away to ask him if it was okay and if he had liked it, he felt a bit off-center and confused, but nodded anyway, which she took as a sign that he wanted her to keep doing it because a split second later, she was kissing him again.

She ran her hands through his hair and made little moaning sounds, as if she was really enjoying it, so Chanyeol made some back so that she thought he enjoyed it too. He decided to put his hand on her back, much as he had done with Kyungsoo, and even though she was smaller, it still reminded him of Kyungsoo because of how small his frame was.

And suddenly, thinking of Kyungsoo made a rush of something go through him that made him moan even more, and Nayeon took that as a sign that he was into it since she moved her hand to glide over his chest.

Chanyeol soon realized that the more he thought of Kyungsoo, the more into this he could get with Nayeon, and since he was trying to make sure she knew that he was on board with this, he closed his eyes and imagined that it was Kyungsoo kissing him instead, which made it easier to kiss Nayeon back and pull her closer to him.

And then, out of nowhere, he felt her hand on his crotch, and he froze.

“Oh,” Nayeon said, pulling her hand away and blinking at him. “Too soon?”

“I…” Chanyeol blinked too. “I’ve never had… no one’s ever touched me there before.”

Nayeon gave him a shy smile and said, “I’m really good at hand jobs. I wouldn’t mind giving you your first one. If you wanted.”

He was not going to freak out. He wasn’t. He wanted this. No, he needed this. This was exactly what he needed to happen to prove that he indeed was straight and everyone else was wrong. Oh, God, why was he freaking out?

“Okay,” he said, even though his heart was beating fast, scared for some reason. Like maybe this was something he could get in trouble for.

Nayeon smiled, and he watched her as she unbuttoned his jeans and pulled down the zipper.

Okay, this was happening. Chanyeol tried so hard to keep it together, to stay calm. This was normal. Baekhyun and Jisoo did this all the time. It was college. He was experimenting.

She tugged down his jeans, and he helped her, leaning back and lifting his hips up so she could slide them down better, and then she was tugging down his underwear and he had to close his eyes because he felt so embarrassed.

He gasped when the cool air hit his now exposed skin, but it was soon replaced by her warm hand, and he sucked his lips in to keep some weird sound from coming out. Then her hand started moving, and Chanyeol couldn’t believe this was actually happening to him.

“Relax, babe, you’re so tense,” she said, and he let out a sigh and did his best to relax into her grasp. “There you go. This is going to feel so good. God, you’re so big.”

Okay, well if she was going to say things like that to him, then, of course, he was going to like it more. Chanyeol did always love a good compliment.

She kept talking to him, using a soft and flirty voice, and asking him if it felt good, if he wanted her to go faster, if he wanted it harder, but honestly, everything she seemed to be doing seemed like exactly what he wanted her to be doing, and at some point, he realized that he was not only enjoying it but that the sensation was like nothing he had ever felt before.

Sure, he had masturbated before, but this was different. Her hand was smaller and softer, and the angle was a lot better. Having someone else jack him off felt more visceral somehow. It intensified everything, and soon he knew he was about to reach his limit.

He warned her, and she told him to go ahead, that she’d take care of him throughout the whole thing. And she did, not letting go until he rode out his entire orgasm.

“I told you I was good at it,” she said, leaning over to give him a kiss, and he smiled into it and told her that yes, she was.

Chanyeol felt amazing, and he wondered what had taken so long for him to work up the courage to have someone do this to him. He reached up and rubbed Nayeon’s arm, looking at her in a whole new light, and he told her, “I want you to show me everything you’re good at.”

Nayeon smiled at him and leaned in to give him another kiss, and this time, Chanyeol returned it fully, suddenly not feeling awkward at all.

***

It amazed Chanyeol how his entire mood had shifted after this experience, and the next night after their second date had ended, he was back at Nayeon’s apartment, only this time there wasn’t an awkward kiss goodbye. Instead, they were in her bed, making out and Chanyeol telling her that he wanted to learn how to make her feel as good as he had made him feel the day before.

She taught him how to do that too, guiding his hand and fingers to new places, and Chanyeol found that it excited him to see her writhe under his touches and say his name as if she needed him to always do this to her. In fact, everything about what they were doing together seemed exciting, which in turn, now made Nayeon herself exciting to Chanyeol.

His good mood did not go unnoticed, and while he hadn’t been purposely trying to avoid Baekhyun, he should have guessed that it was only a matter of time before his best friend popped up at his dorm one day.

“Oh, you are alive,” Baekhyun said after Chanyeol had opened the door for him and let him in.

“Yeah, I’ve just been busy,” Chanyeol chuckled, and he returned to his desk where he had been working on one of his labs for his Aural Skills class.

“I see,” Baekhyun said, taking a seat on Chanyeol’s bed. “It’s weird because I’d normally see you around Thornton, but it’s like you’ve been missing.”

“I haven’t been lingering around as much after class,” he said, writing some notes for himself of things he needed to review.

“Chanyeol, stop ignoring me.”

“I’m not ignoring you,” he defended, smiling as he finished writing and then putting his pen down and facing Baekhyun. “I was in the middle of something.”

“Why are you so happy right now?” Baekhyun asked, eyes narrowed as if it would help him know.

“Can’t I be happy?” Chanyeol asked, “Isn’t that what you guys said you wanted? For me to be happy? Now I’m happy and you guys are going to be upset about that?”

“No, that’s not it. Of course we want you to be happy, but why are you happy? And why have you been avoiding us?”

“I haven’t,” Chanyeol explained, giving a soft laugh. He really wasn’t upset at all with Baekhyun’s questions. He was more amused. “Like I said, I’ve been busy.”

“Busy doing what?” Baekhyun said, patient, as if playing along with him.

“You know, school and dating Nayeon. It takes up a lot of time to date someone,” he pointed out.

“You’ve been going on more dates with her?” Baekhyun said, shifting so he could tuck his legs under each other as he got more comfortable.

“Yeah, you know, we’re dating,” Chanyeol said, and then his smile got bigger because he was terrible at keeping secrets, especially ones he was excited about. “You were right. She was the perfect person for me. We’ve been spending a lot of time together and… we’ve been doing stuff.”

“Doing stuff?” Baekhyun asked, quirking his eyebrows.

“You know,” Chanyeol said, clearing his throat, “Like making out and that kind of stuff.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said, smiling at him, “that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m still a virgin,” Chanyeol made sure to clarify, “but I don’t think I’ll be one for much longer based on the stuff that we’re doing.”

“I see,” Baekhyun said, looking amused now.

“She’s been a really great teacher,” he then told her, and Baekhyun chuckled, then waved his hand as if apologizing for chuckling.

“That’s good,” Baekhyun told him, “You seem so happy about it. That’s… really good, Chanyeol.”

“I think so too,” Chanyeol agreed. “And now I know why you do this a lot.”

“I don’t do it a lot,” Baekhyun scoffed.

“Yeah, you do. Nayeon told me about how the girls at her sorority all place bets on which one of them you’ll hook up with next.”

Baekhyun looked horrified to hear this, and then he said, “that’s not good,” to himself.

“It is good,” Chanyeol said, reassuring him, “the girls at her sorority love you. They keep hoping that one of them is the one that can get you to finally be their boyfriend.”

“Note to self,” Baekhyun said, “avoid the Sigmas at all cost.”

“I think you should pick one,” Chanyeol said, “then we could go on a double date.”

Baekhyun laughed at him and said, “we’ll see,” then fell silent for a moment in thought then said, “It never fails that when someone starts seeing someone, they ignore their friends. I won’t take it personal, but try not to forget me while you get caught up in Nayeon World, alright?”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said, and he did mean that. He did know that it happened, having had similar complaints about Jisoo when she had started dating that jerk that dumped her. “I guess now I know why that happens. I got so caught up.”

“As you do,” Baekhyun nodded. “But if you lose your virginity and I’m not the first person you call to tell, I’m ending our friendship. No exceptions.”

Chanyeol laughed and put up his right hand, swearing that Baekhyun would be the first to know, and they both laughed. But then Baekhyun looked at him seriously.

“You need to call Jisoo and let her know all this and that you’re not still upset with her, okay?”

“I will,” Chanyeol said. “I’d been meaning to text you guys, but I got busy.”

It was only partially true. He had been avoiding them, trying to figure things out and not wanting to run into another situation where they both talked to him again about Kyungsoo. But now that he and Nayeon were actually dating, and he had an actual girl in his life that he liked, he felt more confident talking to them again.

He finally felt like he was on par with his friends and on the same level, and he really hoped that they stopped treating him differently and more like how they treated each other.

***

Easter arrived, which meant so did Sehun’s birthday, and while their family generally didn’t do much on Easter outside of eat a big breakfast and then a big dinner, this year they decided to make the first half of the day the Easter celebration, with a brunch at one of the restaurants along the shore—Sehun’s choice.

After brunch, they drove through the Santa Monica Mountains, over to Westlake Village where they’d be celebrating the second half of the day. Not only were they celebrating Sehun’s birthday, but they were also celebrating his acceptance into every college he had applied to, including his first choice and the one he had committed to, Occidental. Baekhyun, Jisoo, and Rosé joined them after spending the mornings with their own families for Easter brunches and activities.

“Of all the things you possibly could have wanted to do for your birthday,” Jisoo said as she put on her safety goggles. “Honestly, Sehun.”

Sehun beamed at the comment, very obviously enjoying every second of what was happening.

“This all stems from his obsession with the _Hunger Games_ books,” Chanyeol told her, safety googles already on and safety mask sitting on his head. He’d pull it down once the games started.

“I remember that phase,” Baekhyun said, trying to nock his arrow, which kept slipping out of his grasp. “You literally thought you were Katniss.”

“Katniss was the coolest,” Sehun stated. “I told my parents when I was younger that if we ever ended up having to do hunger games in real life, that I had studied all three books and would survive if I was chosen.”

“Awww,” Rosé said as she stood by Jisoo with her arms crossed and listened, “And I bet big brother Chanyeol would have volunteered as tribute instead.”

“Hell no,” Chanyeol said.

“No, I was going to volunteer for him too,” Sehun confirmed.

“Alright, is everyone ready?” their archery tag attendant asked, going to each person to make sure their safety goggles were on right.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be ready for this,” his dad said to his mom, and Chanyeol’s mom assured him that he’d be great at it.

Since there was an odd number of them, Chanyeol’s mom had volunteered as tribute to sit the activity out and just watch from a safe seat behind the glass.

“Okay, first you’re going to learn how to shoot your arrows,” the attendant said, and he had them all line up, giving them proper instructions on how to nock their foam-tipped arrows, pull back, aim, then release.

Chanyeol and Sehun both had plenty of archery experience, given Sehun’s obsession with the _Hunger Games_. And when he had told his mother that it was important that he learn how to do archery, she had signed both boys up for it, which Chanyeol had been more than fine with.

The brothers hit their targets with practiced ease, and Jisoo got the hang of it after a few tries.

“Maybe we should trade places,” his dad called out to his mom, who told him to just aim for the center as if that was the problem.

“Mine’s broken,” Rosé pouted, and the instructor came over to give her pointers.

Baekhyun kept releasing too soon, but when he finally got his arrow to fly in some sort of forward direction, he proclaimed that he was ready, and Sehun remarked that they were all going to be killed by Baekhyun’s stray arrows.

Once they were ready, or as ready as they were going to be in his dad’s, Rosé’s, and Baekhyun’s cases, they had to pick teams. Sehun had to be a captain because it was his birthday, and everyone felt it was only right for Chanyeol to be the other team’s captain.

“Brother versus brother,” Jisoo remarked, “This is already a more tragic story than the original _Hunger Games_.”

“I’ll make sure someone else on my team is the one to kill you,” Sehun told Chanyeol, and before Chanyeol could come up with a good comeback, Sehun was picking his first teammate, “Jisoo.”

“Oh, that’s not fair,” Chanyeol said. “She’s the only other good person.”

“It’s my birthday, my team,” Sehun stated.

“We’re going to win,” Jisoo told Sehun, giving him a hi-five.

Chanyeol looked at his dad, Baekhyun, and Rosé, and tried to think who had the better shot of not dying first. He picked Baekhyun.

“Dad’s on my team,” Sehun then said, and Rosé looked offended.

“You invite me to your birthday party and don’t even pick me for your team?”

Sehun cracked up as Rosé ran over to hit his arm before joining Chanyeol’s side.

“You’re dead meat, Sehun Oh,” Rosé threatened, and signaled that she had her eyes on him, which made Sehun crack up more.

Each team went to their respective side, and Chanyeol formed a small huddle with Baekhyun and Rosé to discuss strategy.

“Okay,” Chanyeol began, “our strategy is to take out Sehun first.”

“Yeah, why don’t you focus on that,” Baekhyun said, “And I’ll focus on tiring your dad out by making him run around chasing me.”

“You’re leaving me with archery queen Jisoo?” Rosé said, looking offended all over again, “Let me tire out dad.”

“No, I want to tire out dad,” Baekhyun insisted.

“You guys, forget my dad,” Chanyeol told them. “He’s not a threat. I’ll focus on Sehun, and you two try and take Jisoo out together. It’s three matches, so we’ll use the first one as a warmup so you guys can get better with the bows, and then we’ll focus on winning the last two.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun said, “And I’m going to tire out your dad.”

Chanyeol sighed and they all lined up in position, the other team already looking more prepared, but he was determined to win even if he had to take out all three players himself.

The attendant blew the whistle, and Chanyeol took off running and hid behind a large tombstone prop, assessing what the other team was doing from behind it. He saw that Baekhyun had already released his arrow and looked confused as to what to do, so Chanyeol told him that he had to run to the arrow reserve to get another one.

Baekhyun took off and it created the perfect diversion for him to stand up and take a shot at whoever was going to be dumb enough to shoot at Baekhyun.

It turned out to be Jisoo, and Chanyeol let his arrow loose, but Jisoo noticed right in time and dodged it, luckily causing her shot to miss Baekhyun in the process. Chanyeol hurried on hands and knees to the arrow reserve to grab another one, watching as Rosé kept screeching every time an arrow flew in her direction.

Chanyeol spotted Sehun behind a fake tree stump and took off running in his direction, almost getting hit by a stray arrow courtesy of his own father.

“Dad, how could you?” Chanyeol said as he ducked behind a large plastic box.

“I’m sorry,” his dad said from behind a different box, “Just know before I kill you that I love you very much.”

“Same,” Chanyeol snickered, and then he got up and ran when he saw Sehun do the same, doing his best to keep up as Sehun darted behind another tombstone.

“Fuck, shit!” Rosé yelled, and Jisoo had her hands up in victory, but not long enough to take her out before she ducked behind the tree stump.

Chanyeol had Sehun in his sight and was about to pull his arrow when he felt a thud against his leg.

“Yes!” Jisoo said. “Two down!”

“Are you kidding me?” Chanyeol said, looking down to confirm that she had gotten him, and then Baekhyun went down courtesy of Sehun.

“How did that happen?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun. “Why weren’t you covering me?”

“Did you not see me fighting for my life?” Baekhyun looked at him exasperated. “You’re just lucky I didn’t get taken out sooner.”

“We need a new strategy,” Rosé said, motioning for them to huddle again. “Baekhyun and I are going to double team Sehun and keep him busy while you take out Jisoo and your dad. Then you can focus on your brother once we’re dead.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Chanyeol agreed.

They got their arrows ready and lined up, then ran into motion again once the next match started.

Baekhyun and Rosé both crossed paths right in front of Sehun, and Chanyeol swung to the right to get the best angle of Jisoo he could, letting his arrow fly and cursing when she evaded it once again. Why was she good at this? He scurried to get another arrow, assessed that his dad wasn’t a threat yet, and ran after Jisoo again.

By now she had figured out that she was his target, so she changed tactics, heading over to the other side and using both a prop and his dad as cover while she aimed and took out Rosé who was chasing Sehun.

“Damn it!” Rosé said.

“Gotcha!” Baekhyun then said, and Chanyeol noticed that he had taken out Chanyeol’s dad. Perfect.

Sehun then chased Chanyeol, and Chanyeol ran for his life, barely making it behind a box and avoiding his brother’s arrow.

Baekhyun was running in zig zags to avoid Jisoo’s attempts, and when she went to grab a new arrow, Baekhyun hid behind the tree stump, taking aim in anticipation of where she would rejoin the field.

Meanwhile, Sehun was coming closer to Chanyeol, hunting him down, and Chanyeol was running the risk of being trapped, so he stuck his arm up and got the desired effect when Sehun let his arrow fly.

“That’s cheating,” Sehun said, and Chanyeol stood up to take aim, letting him know that all was fair in love and archery tag.

Per the rules, he had to wait for him to reload before he could aim, so his goal was to get him before he ducked behind a prop. He had to hope that Baekhyun kept Jisoo occupied enough so that Chanyeol could focus solely on Sehun, and when Sehun ran back into the field of battle, Chanyeol let his arrow fly and caught his arm before he could duck.

“Yes!” Chanyeol said, and then he turned to see Jisoo taking aim for him.

He ducked faster than he had ever ducked in his life, and Jisoo knew she was screwed as both he and Baekhyun waited for her to re-join the field. She did attempt a confusing maneuver to try and draw them both off from her as a target, but in the end, Chanyeol got her, and his team was victorious.

The last round was even more intense, but also sloppier, as they were getting tired from all the running around. The final match-up came down to Sehun versus Chanyeol, and as they kept outmaneuvering each other, their friends yelled at them and tried to give them strategic advice. Part of Chanyeol knew he should just let the birthday boy win, but that part of him was tiny, and the competitive part of him, which took up about 99%, wouldn’t let him concede, so he did his best to hide and hunt as needed, and then saw his chance when Sehun got up to run toward the tree stump.

Chanyeol chased after him, knowing exactly where he needed to aim in advance to catch Sehun as he hid behind it. He timed it perfectly and took his shot, then realized too late that it had been a trap. Sehun had stopped short, anticipating the move from his brother, and now held his position. Chanyeol cursed as he went to get another arrow, and his brother shifted his position, lining up his shot so perfectly that Chanyeol knew he was a dead man.

He nocked his arrow and looked around to see what his best option was. He could drop to his knees immediately. That might work. So that’s exactly what he did when he re-entered the field of play, but Sehun didn’t fall for it, which meant Chanyeol had to crawl really fast behind a prop. But he wasn’t fast enough and Sehun got him right on the calf.

Chanyeol turned onto his back and lay flat on the floor in defeat and disbelief. Baekhyun came over to rub his tummy and tell him that he did a great job. He helped him up and Chanyeol whined that he almost had it.

“You never had it,” Jisoo said, laughing at him. “You weren’t going to beat Katniss Oh on his birthday.”

“He was probably training for this,” Baekhyun joked.

Chanyeol gave Sehun a brotherly hug and congratulated him, and Sehun thanked him for not going easy on him.

They cooled down and rested by playing video games, while Sehun played life-size chest with his dad. Once Sehun had successfully won that as well, they headed to a nearby chain restaurant for Sehun’s early birthday dinner, since Jisoo, Rosé, and Baekhyun would all have to leave early to make it back to their homes for their respective Easter dinners with their families.

While they sat around the large table sharing appetizers, Jisoo asked Sehun if he was excited for college.

“Very excited,” Sehun confirmed.

“Are you going to do a sport like this one over here?” Baekhyun asked, motioning toward Chanyeol who he was seated next to.

“No, but I’m going to join their dance club,” Sehun answered.

“Are you going to rush?” Jisoo asked next.

“No,” Sehun said, looking amused by that question, and Jisoo laughed and let him know she was just checking.

“What are you majoring in?” Baekhyun asked, taking one of the tortilla chips that had guacamole on it off of Chanyeol’s plate. “It tastes better when it comes off your plate,” he explained when Chanyeol gave him a look.

“I’m going to major in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture,” Sehun said with a wide smile. “It’s the main reason I wanted to go to this school. They have a great program.”

“Sounds like you’ll be reading all day,” Baekhyun nodded. “Very you.”

“Yeah,” Sehun agreed, with a shy smile.

“What about you, Rosé?” Chanyeol’s mom asked her, “Have you heard from any of the schools you applied to?”

“Yeah, all of them,” Rosé said with a big smile. “I haven’t picked which one I want to go to yet though.”

“What are the choices?” Chanyeol’s dad asked her.

“Oh, you know,” she waved off, “UCLA, USC, UCSB, the usuals.”

“I’m sure your parents are so proud,” Chanyeol’s mom said, and Rosé nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Then his mother turned her attention to Baekhyun, “Did you guys take Emily Easter egg hunting this morning?”

“We did our own,” Baekhyun replied. “My mom had her event planner set up a huge Easter garden in our backyard for Emily and her friends. And we did morning tea before everyone was told to go find eggs. I can show you the video.”

“Oh, I’d love to see it,” Chanyeol’s mom said, excited as she took Baekhyun’s phone to watch it after he had set it up to play. “Oh, what a gorgeous setup. I might need to get your mother’s event planner’s number.”

“I can get it for you,” Baekhyun told her.

“Look at Emily’s beautiful white Easter dress,” Chanyeol’s mother cooed. “I love that floral pattern on it.”

“Any minute now,” Chanyeol remarked, “she’s going to say that she wishes she had had a girl.”

“At least one,” his mother confirmed, “I don’t know how I ended up with two boys.”

“They’re doing movies now,” Baekhyun said as she passed him his phone back, “and then they’ll start dinner. I told them not to wait for me in case the kids got tired and needed to pass out. I’m more than happy to show up late and annihilate the leftovers.”

“If you’ll have room after eating everything on your plate and Chanyeol’s,” Rosé pointed out.

“I have a separate stomach for ham and deviled eggs,” Baekhyun teased, patting his tummy.

“Wait,” Sehun then said, as if he remembered something, “did you guys celebrate Passover too? That just happened didn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was on Thursday,” Baekhyun confirmed, “Emily’s grandparents hosted the seder this year, so her dad just took Emily with him after my mom refused to go. He was nice and invited me to come as well, but I told him I was going to dinner with my mom that night instead.”

“Well, that was nice of him to ask,” Chanyeol’s mom said, giving him a warm smile.

“It was,” Baekhyun agreed with a nod and a smile back.

“Every time I see Emily,” Rosé mentioned, “and I remember that this little Korean girl’s name is Emily Hirschfeld, it makes me laugh.”

“That’s Emily Soyi Hirschfeld to you,” Baekhyun corrected. “My mom was adamant that she have a Korean name somewhere in there.”

“She’s too adorable,” Chanyeol’s mother said again, probably wishing she had a little Emily Soyi Hirschfeld of her own.

“I think mom is having empty nest syndrome already,” Sehun pointed out, “but I haven’t even left for college yet.”

“You’re taking too long to leave,” his dad said, making everyone laugh. “I already have all of our trips planned now that we can take them alone.”

“I’m already thinking of converting your room into a yoga and meditation room,” his mother played along, and Chanyeol laughed louder than he intended.

“What about Chanyeol’s room?” Sehun asked with a pout.

“We never thought he’d leave it,” his dad joked, “but he hasn’t been home all week, so I guess now we can convert it into my collection room to display all the shot glasses I’ve collected on my business trips.”

“That’s a great idea,” his mother said.

Sehun chuckled, but then he looked at Chanyeol, and asked, “Why haven’t you been home? You’re usually home more when it’s not basketball season. Busy studying?”

Baekhyun cleared his throat at the question, and Chanyeol felt his cheeks go warm.

“I’ve been busy,” Chanyeol said, and then realizing that his mother might be excited to learn he was seeing someone, he went ahead and said, “I’ve also been seeing someone, so we’ve been spending more time together.” His cheeks got a little hotter, as his parents looked at him surprised.

“Who?” his mother said.

“Just this girl at school,” Chanyeol said, casually grabbing his soda to take a drink in an attempt to not be obvious about how much he was liking this sudden attention.

“She’s a sorority girl,” Jisoo let them know.

“She’s in the best Asian sorority with all the hottest girls,” Baekhyun assured them as if his parents cared about things like that.

“Well of course she is,” Chanyeol’s mother said. “My son has impeccable taste. He gets that from me. What’s her name? Do you have a picture?” she asked him.

Chanyeol realized he did. Thank God Nayeon had insisted on taking that selfie at Perch. He pulled it up and showed it to his family, his mother approving with a nod.

“She’s very pretty, and you two look good together,” she commented, looking very pleased. “What’s her name?”

“Nayeon,” Chanyeol said.

“Korean,” his mother stated, nodding again in approval.

“She’s a Journalism major,” Chanyeol let them know, and now his father nodded in approval. “She wants to be the next Lisa Ling.” Chanyeol had finally looked her up so that he understood what Nayeon was talking about when she got passionate about her future career and referenced her.

“Nice,” his father said.

“She was really nice at Lisa’s birthday party,” Rosé remarked, and Chanyeol hoped that’s all she said, not needing his parents to know the specifics of that party or any party that Jennie was responsible for.

“What do her parents do?” his mother then asked.

“They’re both professors up in Michigan, which is where she’s from,” he told her.

“You’d think they’d want her to go to their university,” his father joked, and Chanyeol smiled, never having asked her about that.

“You can’t beat USC’s journalism program,” Baekhyun said with a proud smile.

“Yes, you can,” Jisoo said, “It’s called UCLA’s journalism program.”

“False,” Baekhyun said, pointing at her with his fork. “UCLA doesn’t have a dedicated undergrad journalism major.”

Chanyeol hi-fived him.

Jisoo shrugged and said, “If UCLA had one, it would be better.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Rosé said, laughing at her.

“You should join Jisoo at UCLA to even out the competition,” his father said.

“Jisoo going there makes it my last choice,” Rosé joked instead, and Jisoo said “Hey!” threatening to reach across the table to hit her.

They enjoyed their dinner, and once their plates had been cleared, the staff brought over a birthday dessert with a lit candle. The staff clapped while singing him a birthday song, and Sehun looked embarrassed by this attention. Chanyeol made sure to record the whole thing.

After Sehun opened his presents, which were mostly books or notebooks or things in general that were related to school, Jisoo, Rosé, and Baekhyun had to leave to head to their own homes for the rest of Easter. Hugs were exchanged, and then Chanyeol’s family headed back through the mountains, greeted by an incredible sunset over the Pacific Ocean as they drove down into Malibu.

“Are you actually staying?” Sehun asked, once his father had parked and they had gotten out of the car. “Or are you heading back to campus to spend time with Nayeon?”

“I’m staying tonight,” Chanyeol told him. “It’s your day. I’m all yours tonight. Plus, we need to come up with a plan to save our rooms from being turned into a yoga studio and shot glass museum.”

“They didn’t mean that, right?” Sehun said as they went inside the house, Chanyeol helping to carry some of his presents.

“Of course they didn’t,” Chanyeol chuckled. “They’re going to hope that you come home every weekend instead of staying on campus. I don’t know about the cafeteria food at Occidental, but if it’s anything like ‘SC’s, you’re going to want to come home anyway every weekend to eat good food.”

“Good point,” Sehun smiled, and he looked so relieved that Chanyeol almost laughed at him, but he held it back.

He couldn’t wait to see how college life treated his brother, and he hoped, probably much like his mom did, that college would help Sehun come out of his shell a bit more.


	26. Chapter 26

When Jongin walked into the dance studio and saw Lisa warming up without her pink Burberry beanie, he knew that Jongdae had talked to her. He took a deep breath and walked toward the wall closest to her to put down his backpack, hoping that it hadn’t meant the end of their friendship as well. Jongin and Lisa had been good friends for so long, and he hadn’t even considered the consequences of what it could mean if she dated his best friend and things didn’t go well.

He took a sip of water from his water bottle, then screwed the cap back on, set it down, and sat across from her to stretch, looking right at her to try and get a read of how she was feeling before saying, “hey.”

“Hey,” she said back, not with her usual smile or greeting, just as a courtesy.

He nodded and decided not to push, finishing up his warmups and getting up to shake out his limbs.

When class ended though, he went over to her again and said, “Do you want to talk?”

“No,” she said.

“Okay,” Jongin said, not knowing what any of this meant. But he realized that he did have something to say to her about this, so he went ahead. “I just want you to know that I’m so sorry that this happened. Jongdae’s a fucking idiot, but… he’s my idiot, and obviously, he’s still one of my best friends, and I’m hoping that doesn’t mean that you’re no longer one of my best friends too.”

Lisa looked at him, her expression a bit guarded, and she looked around as everyone cleared out from the room. She crossed her arms and looked at him, revealing the sad expression on her face that she had been hiding.

“The one time I meet someone that I really liked…” Lisa said, and Jongin nodded, knowing her struggles with this.

He stepped toward her and pulled her into a hug, holding her as she tried to not cry, but her sniffles betrayed her.

It was a good thing that a class wasn’t scheduled for that moment because it gave them a chance to sit down next to each other by the wall and talk after Lisa had pulled herself together enough to do so.

“If it means anything,” Jongin told her as she wiped the tears on her cheek with her towel, “Jongdae really liked you too. He cried when he realized he was going to lose you because of all this. But he didn’t have a choice. It’s not like he cheated on you or planned any of this.”

“I know,” Lisa said, nodding as she gripped her towel on her lap. “That’s what makes it worse. I want to hate him, but I have no real reason to hate him. I’m so confused about how I’m supposed to feel about all of this.”

“That makes sense,” Jongin nodded. “It’s very confusing.”

“Like, what did I want the alternative to be?” she said, sounding frustrated. “We stay together, but he has to raise a kid with another woman? Would that have really worked? Of course it wouldn’t have.”

“It would have been hard,” Jongin agreed. “But I get wishing he had picked you instead. If it’s any consolation, he certainly didn’t pick his ex over you. He just picked the baby over you.”

“This is so stupid,” she said, shaking her head. Jongin took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “But it just proves what I already knew, which is that I need to stay single. I need to stay focused on my career. Maybe when I’ve made it and feel I’ve been successful enough, I can start looking for someone.”

“Maybe,” Jongin said, “but I don’t think you should rule out the possibilities.”

“Please, there are no possibilities,” Lisa said with a snort. “Who do you know who’s more beautiful and put-together than Jisoo? And she got dumped and still hasn’t found someone new. And trust me, she’s been looking. Only Jennie got lucky in our group of friends. Rosé doesn’t even bother.”

“Well, I tried to help, but my group of friends is just me, one gay guy, and one idiot, so I’m not going to be much more help to you guys,” Jongin tried to tease, hoping to lighten her mood, and she did give a half-smile.

“It’s fine,” Lisa said, squeezing his hand back. “I just need to move on and keep my eye on the prize.”

“That prize is going to be yours soon,” Jongin assured her. “And maybe I’ll make another guy friend at some point that will be the right one for you. I’m determined now to find you someone, just like I did for Kyungsoo. I’m good at this.”

Lisa gave him another half-smile but then nodded at him, “You do that,” she said. “We’ll see if you really are good at this or if Taeyong and Kyungsoo was just a fluke.”

“It’s going to be my side business. Nini’s Matchmaking Service.”

Lisa laughed, which was great to see, and Jongin laughed with her, happy that he managed to get her into a better mood.

***

Jongin had been both dreading and looking forward to Easter, and he woke up early to shower and get ready to go emotionally support Jongdae through what was probably going to be one of the worst days of his life.

“Eat before you go,” his mother told him, already in the kitchen for Easter brunch preparations even though it was still early. “I made you some eggs and bacon,” she said, motioning toward the smaller table in the breakfast nook.

Jongin finished putting his socks on and buttoning up his shirt before eating, his mother adding a biscuit to his plate at some point. She didn’t bother him or ask him anything, which he appreciated, probably already sensing how tense he was about all of this.

When he finished, he thanked her with a kiss on the cheek and told her, “Jennie said she’s going to aim to get here by noon, but she’s not sure yet based on her mom’s schedule for her.”

“I’m just happy her mother is freeing her enough to come at all,” his mom said, giving him a little squeeze and telling him to drive safe.

The plan was for Jongin and Kyungsoo to get to the church first and meet Jongdae before people from the congregation began arriving. They both arrived around the same time and met up in the parking lot, walking together toward the side doors where Jongdae had told them to meet him.

Jongin still couldn’t believe this was even happening.

They both hugged Jongdae when they saw him, and Jongdae looked ready for his big moment in nice black slacks and an even nicer white button-down shirt that he had tucked in. His hair was brushed back away from his face, and he wore a simple necklace with a cross charm. In that moment, he looked exactly like a pastor’s son.

“How are you holding up?” Kyungsoo asked him, rubbing his arm gently.

“I want to throw up,” Jongdae said, and they both nodded at him and understood. “Let’s go inside.”

They followed him into the main building, a large space Jongdae’s father had dubbed the Hall of Miracles. The inside looked less like a church and more like a hall that had been set up for conventions and presentations. It had been intentional since Jongdae’s father’s whole schtick was that they were put on Earth for the purposes of ministry, and it needed to be treated like a job that you needed to do for your one true boss—God.

Jongin had always hated coming in here, the few times he and Kyungsoo had because they were sleeping over Jongdae’s or hanging out with him for the day. And today was no different. If churches were supposed to be known for their warmth and inviting atmosphere of peace, Jongdae’s father’s church felt draconian, as if intended to put the fear of God himself in each person that walked in.

Given how bizarre the vibe was, the fact that this church had one of the largest congregations in the OC and the largest for Korean Americans in the entire Southern California region, confused Jongin. But whether he agreed or understood was inconsequential, since it was clear that Jongdae’s father had tapped into something that so many people had felt they needed.

“So, we’ll start with song,” Jongdae explained to them, “It’s Easter, so people want more music and pageantry. The choral group is going to do a resurrection song, and then the two lead singers will accompany the guitarist on a song about praising fruits or something.”

Kyungsoo snorted, and Jongin stifled his laugh.

“Then one of the associate pastors is going to do some reading from the Gospel of Mark about how He is risen, and then another is going to read from the Gospel of Matthew about all the post-crucifixion sightings, and then there’s going to be another song, and then my dad takes the stage and starts his sermon, which is going to be all about miracles, and the miracle of ministry, and how miracles present themselves to us in ways we least expect to guide us in the direction of our true ministry, at which point, he’ll introduce me with my special miracle ministry story.”

“Holy crap,” Jongin said.

“So, you have to wait that long,” Kyungsoo said, looking horrified, “and then be the main event?”

“Yep,” Jongdae said, “so then I give my big speech and announce my marriage and how we’re expecting a child, at which point Wendy is supposed to come join me on stage so we can provide a unified, happy front. My dad will take back over, and his goal is that people will be so moved and inspired that they won’t bother being shocked or disappointed. He plans to say something to steer them in that direction, and then there will be more song, at which point I will no longer be on the stage and instead be outside throwing up.”

“I think I’m going to be throwing up with you,” Kyungsoo said, and Jongin nodded.

“Luckily I haven’t eaten today,” Jongdae pointed out, “so I’m not expecting much to come out. It’ll probably be more like dry heaving.”

“You haven’t eaten?” Jongin said, furrowing his brows. “You have to eat something.”

“Can’t,” Jongdae said, shaking his head. “My mom made breakfast, and I almost threw up at the sight of it.”

“We’re taking you to eat after this,” Jongin told him. “Or you can come to my house. There’s going to be tons of food for brunch.”

“I can’t,” Jongdae said, shaking his head, “Post-church activities.”

“Fuck post-church activities,” Kyungsoo said, and then he covered his mouth, forgetting he was in a holy place. “You’re going to need to get away from this for a little bit. We’re kidnapping you and feeding you, then we’ll bring you back so you can deal with all that.”

Jongdae looked appreciative, but then people began arriving and it was time for Jongdae to become the perfect pastor’s son, greeting people and conversing with members of the congregation. When Wendy and her family arrived, Kyungsoo and Jongin were quick to Jongdae’s side, maybe being overdramatic, but they didn’t care. They were here for him and they were going to be as close to him as possible.

Jongin took in Wendy’s appearance, and she really didn’t look pregnant at all. She wore a nice long floral dress and a small sweater that she had left open in front. Her black hair was neat and pulled back into a ponytail that lay against her neck and went down to her shoulder blades.

It was only when she got closer that Jongin noticed her cheeks were a little fuller than he had remembered, and her stomach wasn’t as flat, but it also didn’t look big enough to think she was pregnant.

“Hey,” Jongdae said to her, and Jongin noticed there was no smile on either of their faces as they greeted each other. “Are you ready for this?”

“No,” she said.

“It’ll be fine,” her mother said, squeezing her shoulders for support, and then her parents left to go save their spots toward the front.

Wendy’s parents were replaced right then with Wendy’s best friends from church, and Jongin could tell from the look on Seulgi’s and Joy’s faces that they were not happy about any of this.

“Oh, look who’s back,” Seulgi said, sizing Jongin and Kyungsoo up, “Long time no see.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, eyes narrowing, clearly having so much to say to her. Jongin did too, but they both stayed silent. For now.

Jongdae cleared his throat then said to Wendy, “It’s beginning to fill up. I’m going to head backstage.”

“I’m going to go sit with my parents,” Wendy nodded, leaving before he did.

Jongdae sighed, looking defeated all over again as he walked away as well.

“God this sucks,” Kyungsoo said.

“Well maybe if Jongdae had wrapped it up…” Seulgi began, and Jongin cut her off.

“Don’t even go there,” he warned her. “They’re both to blame for this mess. There were two people in that relationship.”

“Oh, please,” Seulgi said, “He knew Wendy was naïve. Who knows what bullshit he fed her to make her agree to not letting him wear a condom.”

“Why the fuck would he even want to do that on purpose?” Kyungsoo asked her like she was insane. “Do you think he wanted to knock her up?”

“No, genius,” Seulgi said, looking at him like he was stupid, “everyone knows that men like going in raw for their own selfish purposes. It felt good, and he manipulated her to let him do it.”

“Did she tell you this?” Jongin challenged her.

“She didn’t have to,” Seulgi said, and Kyungsoo looked ready to yell.

“So, you’re making this up,” Jongin said, keeping his cool. “Like you’ve made up every other lie about him because you were pissed off for your best friend.”

“I haven’t made up a single lie,” she stated. “Everyone in this church knows Jongdae’s an entitled little shit.”

“You’re a liar,” Jongin told her, holding his ground, “You didn’t like him even when they were dating, and you’ve used their breakup as a platform to let everyone know.”

“I didn’t like him because I knew that he was going to screw her over,” Seulgi said, holding her ground as well, “I was trying to protect my best friend because I knew that he was bored and was just going to use her to keep him entertained during church and youth ministry.”

“We’re just going to have to agree to disagree,” Joy said, stepping in. “We know the truth. You guys only know Jongdae outside of church. We know him in church. We knew this wasn’t going to end well, and then Wendy got hurt, and now… this.”

Jongin wanted to tell her she was full of shit, but then Kyungsoo said, “Fine, we’ll agree to disagree,” before he could say anything. Kyungsoo took his hand and led Jongin away so they could get a seat, and Jongin sat down, fuming.

“I had a lot more to say,” Jongin let him know, crossing his arms in annoyance.

“I know,” Kyungsoo said, “So did I, but for what? They have their minds made up about him, and they’re going to have 18 years to realize they were wrong.”

Jongin supposed that was true, but it didn’t stop him from feeling like he needed to keep arguing with them about it. Seulgi had only one point, and that was that they didn’t know Jongdae’s church personality as much as his non-church one, but Jongdae wasn’t some amazing actor or con man that he could suddenly change his personality so drastically from one situation to the next.

He remembered how excited Jongdae had been whenever he talked about Wendy, and how he practically combusted when telling them that she agreed to be his girlfriend. Jongdae had really liked Wendy a lot, and at no point in any of the five million things he had said about her had ever mentioned that she was even the good girl, or that she was naïve, or innocent. All he talked about was what an amazing singer she was, and how nice she was, and how they always had fun talking about things.

But church gossip was just as bad as any other, and Jongdae’s privilege of being the pastor’s son had certainly been used against him if Seulgi and Joy were any indication.

The service started, and everything went exactly as Jongdae had said, from the singing, to the readings, to the moment that Jongdae’s father took the stage, charismatic as always and enchanting the congregation with his powerful talent for storytelling and delivering a message. Jongin felt that he’d even be captivated if he couldn’t see through his bullshit.

And then came the moment they had dreaded, and his father introduced Jongdae, who strode across the stage with his chin up, on a mission, and looking prepared to do what he had to do and then run as fast as he could.

As far as punishments went, Jongin couldn’t think of a worse one. Having to admit your sins in front of roughly 2,000 people, then pretend that you were happy with the outcome while everyone watched and judged you was hard to beat.

But somehow, Jongdae got through it, managing to tell his story just as charismatically as his father would, which just solidified why his father had wanted Jongdae to be the one to follow his footsteps instead of his brother. And when Wendy stood beside him and they held hands, the congregation stood to their feet and applauded the soon to be newlywed couple, who played into it, giving each other a little hug with the fakest smiles Jongin had ever seen.

Jongdae’s plan to run outside and throw up was thwarted by the fact that he had to sit down in the front row with Wendy until the entire service was done, and Jongin and Kyungsoo’s plan to kidnap him was thwarted by the fact that, after it was all over, everyone wanted to congratulate Jongdae and Wendy and wish them the best.

“This is probably the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Kyungsoo said, as they stay seated, waiting for the circus to be over.

“Yeah,” Jongin agreed. “I know Jongdae is resilient,” he said, watching him shaking hands with people and laughing about things they said, “and he nailed it and will make this work, but he didn’t deserve this.”

“His dad’s a fucking asshole,” Kyungsoo said in agreement, and they both looked toward Jongdae’s father, who was beaming with pride as people shook his hand and congratulated him as well.

They finally got their chance to pull Jongdae away from everything once most people had left and Jongdae’s father had walked over to talk to his son.

Kyungsoo and Jongin sprang into action, heading over, with Jongin giving Kyungsoo the nudge to put on his best acting performance to date.

“Hi, Mr. Kim,” Kyungsoo said with a big smile.

“Hi, Kyungsoo,” Jongdae’s father said, smiling back at him, “Jongdae said you two would be here to show your support today. Wasn’t his sermon powerful?”

“It was very moving,” Kyungsoo nodded. “Do you mind if we kidnap him for an hour so? We want to treat him to a congratulatory coffee.”

Jongdae’s father chuckled and nodded, “That sounds very nice. You boys go have fun,” and then he turned to Jongdae, “Just remember you need to be back in time for our special Easter ministry luncheon.”

“I will be,” Jongdae said, not bothering to smile at his father, perhaps saving the rest of his fake smiles for the luncheon.

Jongin decided to drive them, and once they were all in his car, Jongdae lied down in the backseat and curled up, not physically able to sit or pretend anymore. Kyungsoo pouted at him from the front passenger seat, then put the radio on so no one felt like they had to say anything.

He drove them away from the church, so that they didn’t end up at a coffee shop where they might run into people from the congregation, but still close enough so they could get Jongdae back in time for the luncheon.

Jongdae groaned as he sat up, and then he got out of the car as well, the three of them walking in and Jongdae going straight to a table to sit down and rest his arms and head on the table.

Kyungsoo and Jongin exchanged a look and then Kyungsoo said, “I know what he likes.” They got in line, ordering not just coffee, but also a muffin and an almond butter and banana toast for Jongdae to eat.

They brought everything to the table, and Kyungsoo scooted the toast toward Jongdae and told him to eat.

Jongdae let out a large breath and went for the coffee instead.

They sipped their drinks quietly for a moment, and then Jongin said, “Well, at least this shitty part is over.”

Jongdae looked at them and nodded, then told them, “Thank you, guys, for being there. I know it’s Easter and you’d rather be with your families.”

“You are our family, dumbass,” Kyungsoo said, bopping him on the shoulder. “And it’s not like we’re not spending the rest of the day with those other people.”

“If you want to escape your family Easter thing tonight, you can come over,” Jongin told him again, really wishing he would.

“I can’t,” Jongdae sighed. “My parents invited Wendy’s family over for it since we’re all going to be family now. I have a feeling it’s just going to be another meeting to go over more things.”

“Speaking of holidays and family,” Jongin said, having had this thought as he had looked around the congregation during the service, “Why’s your brother not here for all this?”

“He’s still in ministry in Taiwan,” Jongdae told them.

“Still?” Jongin asked. “Hasn’t he been gone over a year?”

“He extended it,” Jongdae confirmed. “Probably to stay away from our crazy parents.”

“Did you tell him about this?” Kyungsoo asked, nudging Jongdae to eat his toast.

“Yeah, he said he was sorry this all happened,” Jongdae confirmed with a shrug, making the effort to pick up the toast and take a bite.

“Did he give you any brotherly words of wisdom?” Jongin asked, watching him take another bite. His hunger must have finally caught up to him.

“Run,” Jongdae said.

Jongin snorted and took another sip of his coffee, then decided to change the subject to give Jongdae a break from thinking about all of this.

He turned his attention to Kyungsoo and asked, “Did you get to do your second date with Taeyong finally?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said with a smile, and Jongin felt proud of Nini’s Matchmaking Services once again. “He’s really into animation and anime, so I took him to Little Tokyo.”

“Nice,” Jongin nodded in approval. “Did he love it?”

“He did,” Kyungsoo said with a chuckle. “I think we spent over an hour in the stores, and he kept pointing out all the memorabilia he was going to buy once he got his first paying dancing job.”

“Did you buy him anything?” Jongin asked, glancing at Jongdae to keep an eye on him and noticing he was staring off into space while finishing his toast.

“Just one small thing,” Kyungsoo said. “He compared me to Totoro on our blind date, so I bought him a tiny little Totoro toy and told him that he could keep it with him all the time and it would be like he had me with him.”

“That’s adorable,” Jongin remarked, “and weird.”

“He’s weird,” Kyungsoo said, also noticing that Jongdae was not tuned in to their conversation. “Anyway, we ended up eating sushi and hanging out, then talked about what we could do for our third date.”

Jongin nodded at him then looked at Jongdae and back at Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo shrugged, not knowing what to do either. So Jongin just reached over and gave Jongdae’s neck a good rub, hoping to break up a little of the tension.

“I’m okay,” Jongdae assured him, patting Jongin’s arm. “Just have a lot on my mind.”

“You can unload whatever you need to on us,” Kyungsoo told him. “We’re here, Dae.”

“I know,” Jongdae nodded. “I can’t thank you guys enough for all of this. I know I couldn’t get through this without you guys.”

“You’re stuck with us,” Jongin tried to assure him in a lighthearted way, “And we’re going to be the best uncles to Baby Dae when he or she finally gets here. Do we know if it’s a he or she?”

“We’re finding out at the next appointment,” Jongdae said.

“That’s exciting,” Kyungsoo said, giving him a warm smile. “Which do you want?”

“Either is fine,” Jongdae shrugged. “As long as it’s healthy.”

“That’s such a dad answer,” Jongin said, laughing, and Jongdae shrugged again.

“Is there going to be a baby shower?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Wendy’s mom is planning that,” Jongdae nodded. “Girls only, so I get to skip it. I think they did that knowing I was going to get roasted by her friends if I showed up.”

“You want us to plan a boy one for you?” Kyungsoo then said, already looking like he wanted to laugh.

“Shut up,” Jongdae said, shoving Kyungsoo’s arm and showing a sign of something other than misery finally.

“We are going to plan you a bachelor party though,” Jongin said, “When we get closer to the ceremony.”

“You can’t throw me a bachelor party if I’m already married,” Jongdae pointed out. “That’s not how that works.”

“Fuck that,” Kyungsoo said, putting his hand up in indignation, “We’re throwing you one anyway. And her friends should throw her a bachelorette party, but they probably won’t because she has shitty friends.”

“I was going to call Seulgi a ton of names if you hadn’t dragged me away,” Jongin said to Kyungsoo.

“I know, that’s why I dragged you away,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“It’s not right,” Jongin shook his head, and he looked at Jongdae, “I’m convinced she’s the one that spreads all the rumors about you to your church.”

“Probably,” Jongdae shrugged. “Seulgi’s never liked me. It doesn’t matter. I can’t change what people want to believe about me. I can only keep showing them who I am and hoping they’ll finally believe the truth.”

It still didn’t seem fair, but Jongin knew there was no changing people’s opinions when they believed things only because they wanted to.

They finished up their coffees and Jongdae ate half the muffin as well before they left and dropped him back off at the church.

“Let us know if you need anything, and we’ll come right over,” Kyungsoo told him, giving him a hug.

“And you know where we live if you just want to run away from it all,” Jongin said when it was his turn.

Jongdae thanked them both then headed to the gardens where the Easter luncheon was about to start Kyungsoo and Jongin didn’t know what else to say or do, so they told each other they’d check in on Jongdae later and keep the other updated.

When Jongin got back home, the juxtaposition of what he had just gone through was strong. Music played, a TV was on with cartoons showing, the smell of food welcomed him, and people were in lively discussion, happy, in a genuine way.

“Nini!” Rain said, getting up from the floor where she had been sitting with Jennie. She ran over to him and shoved a piece of paper to his leg. “Look at the dress Jennie’s going to make me!”

Jongin smiled and looked down at the design, which was just as well thought out and visionary as all of Jennie’s other work.

“This is amazing,” Jongin said, smiling even wider. “You’re going to look great in it.”

“I know!” Rain said, running back to Jennie who had now stood up as well.

Jongin walked over to her so he could greet her with a kiss, and then he remarked, “You come over for brunch and they put you to work.”

“Are you kidding? I could design a hundred dresses for Rain. She’s great inspiration. Must run in the family,” she said with a smirk, giving him another “hello” kiss back.

“How’d it go?” his mother asked. “Come eat, we can talk at the table.”

Jongin followed, dragging Jennie with him against Rain’s wishes, and Jonghee told her daughter to go check up on the eggs that they had painted. The little girl excitedly ran to see the results, giving Jonghee the chance to join them at the table. June and Jongin’s dad joined them as well, all invested in what Jongin had to say.

Jongin popped a deviled egg into his mouth to eat it first and then told them, “It went like you’d think it go. Jongdae did the thing, he survived it, and Kyungsoo and I took him to get coffee so he could get away from it for a little bit.”

“We tried to watch it on TV,” June then said. “But none of us could make it past the first sermon thing.”

“I left after the first song,” Jongin’s father admitted.

“I can’t believe you made it that long,” Jongin told him, very surprised. “But yeah, his dad saved the best for last. Jongdae nailed it though. He has his dad’s charisma, so everyone ate it up and took turns congratulating him and Wendy after.”

“Poor kids,” Jongin’s mother said, shaking her head. “Is he okay though?”

“You know how he is. He’s got this. He’s a bit out of it right now, but I think now that this part is over with, he’ll find his stride with all of it. They find out the sex of the baby at the next appointment.”

“That’ll be nice,” June said with a smile.

“Well, now that you’re here,” his mother said, “it’s time to find eggs.”

Jongin laughed and got up with everyone else, following his family into the backyard. He grabbed a purple basket and handed it to Jennie, who took it with excitement, and then, as expected, her phone was given to him so he could take pictures of her with it.

Once everyone had their baskets, Jonghee’s husband included, his father blew a whistle and they all went running in different directions. Rain and Riley found the more obvious ones first, the ones his parents had just lain on the grass in plain sight. But Jongin went for the flower beds, knowing they always put some in there.

Jennie kept jumping up and down and laughing every time she found one, and Jongin had to pause to record her doing this because it was too adorable to not capture for posterity.

When they were done, they sat on the grass counting to see who had gotten the most, and though the adults had given a very valiant effort, it was Rain who turned out victorious and won the grand prize, a giant bunny rabbit plushie, that made Riley cry in jealousy that he didn’t win it.

“There are more games,” Jongin’s mother said, hugging him in amusement. “You’ll win something else later, okay?”

“I want bunny,” the boy cried, and Jonghee picked him up and said it was obviously time for a nap.

That night, after Jongin sat stuffed on the couch, knowing he wouldn’t be able to move for days with as full as he felt, he watched as Jennie sat beside him, putting together her story for the day, and choosing the perfect picture to post on her feed. His heart felt warm when he saw that she posted a picture of her and Rain together on her story with the caption “Best Friends” and then the video that Jongin had taken of her jumping up and down with her egg with the caption “My Easter Egg Dance.”

He dropped a kiss on her cheek for no reason, his arm around her as he smiled at the picture of her painting an egg.

“It seems you liked your first Easter with my crazy family,” he mentioned.

She finished posting and then looked up at him and said, “I loved it. I loved every second of today once I stepped through that door.”

“Good,” he said, giving her another tender kiss. “Then you better not dump me for a year so you can come do this again.”

“Don’t dump me either,” she said, laughing at the comment. “I will be so sad if I can’t do this again with your family next year.”

“It might not be as fun,” Jongin mused, “Riley may have grown out of crying about oversized bunny toys by then.”

“I wanted to go buy him one right away and give it to him,” Jennie said, her eyes appearing to convey that she felt his pain.

“He’ll be strong,” Jongin said with a snort, “He got over it the minute he got to crack the colored eggs open anyway.”

“That’s true,” Jennie said.

“Rain and Riley are already too spoiled for their own good,” he told her as he wrapped his finger around a part of her hair, creating a little curl. “Jonghee does her best to keep them in line, but then they come over and my parents spoil them even more. And I spoil them, and June spoils them, and now you spoil them. Jonghee can’t win.”

“They should be spoiled,” Jennie said. “They’re the most perfect, sweetest, cutest kids.”

“We’ll see if Dae’s kid dethrones them,” Jongin joked, and Jennie gave him a small smile for the joke, but then turned thoughtful.

“I feel so awful for Lisa,” she said.

“I know,” Jongin agreed. “I do too.”

“She was so ready for him to be her first boyfriend.”

“Yeah,” Jongin let out a soft sigh. “I told her I’d find her a better candidate.”

“Will you?” Jennie said, looking hopeful. “I can’t think of anyone that would be right for her, and she needs someone who would understand her and the type of person that she is. Like Jongdae did.”

“Yeah, that’s going to be the hard part. But I’m on a mission to find the right guy for her. Like I did for Kyungsoo.”

Jennie brightened and said, “Taeyong is so pretty. That was the perfect person for Kyungsoo. He deserves a pretty boy.”

“Yes, he does,” Jongin played along. “It’s important that he have the right arm candy for his red-carpet movie premiers.”

“It’s so true,” Jennie said, not taking it as the joke that he meant it as, which he had expected, and then she randomly switched subjects and asked, “Did you wish Sehun a happy birthday today? It’s his birthday.”

“Uh, no,” Jongin said, “I didn’t know it was today. He’s an Easter baby?”

“It fell on Easter this year,” Jennie informed him. “I sent him a gift card for Barnes & Noble because I know he loves to read. He thanked me, which was really sweet.”

“I’ll text him now,” Jongin said, grabbing his phone and texting Sehun “happy birthday” before opening up the Jongas Brothers group chat to check in.

_Jongin: How are things, Dae?_

_Kyungsoo: He’s driving. He headed back up to campus once dinner was over. I’m leaving to head up in an hour or so._

_Jongin: Good. Glad you got out of there, Dae! I’m driving up in the morning._

_Kyungsoo: I’m setting up a movie night for me and Dae tomorrow so come join us._

_Jongin: Will do. Night._

_Kyungsoo: Night._

Jongin put his phone down, and Jennie cuddled into him, resting her hand on his chest.

“Is Jongdae okay?”

“He’s headed back to campus, so if nothing else, he’s alive,” he said, wrapping his arm around her to hold her close.

“That’s good at least,” she said, and then after a moment, she brought up something unexpected. “I totally get why you haven’t technically moved out of your parents’ house, but have you been thinking at all about finding a place up in LA to live?”

“I have been thinking about it,” Jongin admitted. “I usually crash at Kyungsoo and Dae’s or at your place, and sometimes I’ll crash at Lisa’s. Lisa and I have talked about it actually. Her lease is up soon and they’re raising her rent by a lot, so she’s trying to find another place. I told her I’d be down for being roommates if she needed one, but then this whole thing with Dae happened so she might have changed her mind.”

“No, talk to her please,” Jennie said, looking up at him with excited eyes, “That would be amazing if you lived together. Then I could see both of you more when I come over to visit you or her.”

“Well there’s another factor in play,” Jongin said, “Rosé’s going to need a place to live too, and she had been talking to Lisa about them being roommates instead.”

“Even better,” Jennie said, “Then I could see the three of you more.”

“Wait, no, I don’t mean the three of us living together,” Jongin clarified. “I mean either me and Lisa being roommates, or Lisa and Rosé being roommates. There’s no way I’m living with Rosé.”

“Why not?” Jennie said with a pout. “Rosé’s nice.”

“I can’t live with someone who’s drunk and high all day long,” Jongin said. “Also, who’s lying to her parents about being in college. That’s a whole slew of drama I do not want to deal with.”

“I really can’t believe she’s lying about that,” Jennie said, cuddling into him again, “But I’m kind of curious to see how long she’s going to get away with it for.”

“We’re inevitably going to find out,” Jongin said, not curious at all. Rosé was such a mess, and he kind of wished Jennie would just stop being friends with her already.

But just like Jennie would never drop Rosé as a friend, Jongin had to accept that things were changing and more people that he didn’t care for were going to become part of his life. Like Wendy, Seulgi, and Joy, who it’d be impossible to avoid now since Jongdae had accidentally brought them back into their circle.

He had a weird thought about what it would have meant if this had happened to him instead. If Krystal had ended up pregnant and he had to bring Victoria, Luna, and Amber back into his life because they came as a package deal. Kyungsoo would have liked that, he had gotten along great with Amber.

There was no denying that things were going to be different now. Like it or not, Jongdae was getting married and becoming a dad. Kyungsoo had a new roommate at least. He had told Jongin about Baekhyun volunteering to be his new roommate, and Jongin thought that had been really cute and would probably be great for them both.

Jongin himself had a lot to look forward to including more modeling shoots, more dancing jobs, and, of course, running Nini’s Matchmaking Service. He was ready to see what happened next. And he hoped that Kyungsoo’s movie was a success, that Lisa’s career took off, that Jongdae’s baby was born healthy, and that he and Jennie continued to enjoy being together as much as they were enjoying being together right now.

After Jennie had left to head back up to campus, Jongin settled in for a good sleep, even though he was too full to really pass out like he wanted to. He was playing a game on his phone when he saw Kyungsoo’s face pop up, and Jongin furrowed his brows, wondering why he was calling him so late at night. Or at the very least, why was he calling instead of texting. Kyungsoo hated talking on the phone. He realized that maybe he needed help with Jongdae, and he picked up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Jongin asked.

“Hey, sorry if I woke you up,” Kyungsoo said.

“No, it’s okay. I’m too stuffed to fall asleep. Is everything okay?”

“I’m freaking out,” Kyungsoo told him, and Jongin sat up straight in his bed to pay better attention.

“What’s going on?”

“I just got a text from Yixing.”

Jongin’s stomach flipped. No. Please don’t let this be happening.

“Why?” Jongin asked. “Why is he texting you?”

“He said he’s coming back to LA,” Kyungsoo said, and Jongin could tell from Kyungsoo’s high pitched delivery that he was definitely freaking out.

“Fuck, why?” Jongin asked again. “I thought he had to go back to China and stay there because of his parents or whatever.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo said, “But he said that his life hasn’t been what he thought it’d be, and he’s coming back. And that… he wants to see me.”

“No,” Jongin said, though he had meant to think that and not say it. “I mean, why does he want to see you? When’s he coming?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t texted him back to find out.”

“Don’t text him back. He doesn’t deserve your acknowledgement. Shit, why didn’t you block him?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said with a whine, but Jongin knew why, and Kyungsoo did too. He just didn’t want to admit that he was still holding onto Yixing. Even after everything. Shit. “Everything this week has been so stupid, of course it’s ending like this. First Jongdae, then stupid Chanyeol, and now Yixing texting me out of nowhere. I don’t deserve this.”

Jongin froze and very carefully asked, “Stupid Chanyeol? What happened with Chanyeol?”

“It’s so stupid,” Kyungsoo said. “We made out. And, naturally, he considered it experimenting because heaven forbid he just admit that he’s fucking bi already.”

Jongin hated everything, but he tried to stay casual on the phone, even though he was seething on the inside.

“You made out with Chanyeol? What about Taeyong? I thought that was going well.”

“It is. Obviously. The Chanyeol thing was stupid. And this whole Jongdae thing is stupid. And Yixing texting me out of nowhere and saying he wants to see me is stupid.”

Jongin agreed. All of this was stupid.

“Just don’t text him back,” Jongin said, knowing deep down inside, with every fiber of his being, that Kyungsoo was going to do exactly that.

“I won’t,” Kyungsoo said as if he believed it, “but how am I going to sleep tonight?”

“Turn your phone off,” Jongin said, rubbing his forehead. “And think about how fun your next date with Taeyong is going to be. Start planning it in your head and you’ll fall asleep.”

“Okay, I’ll try that,” Kyungsoo acquiesced, or pretended to. “Thanks. I knew I couldn’t bother Jongdae with this right now, so thanks for picking up.”

“Always, Soo. Try and get some sleep,” Jongin said.

They hung up and Jongin groaned as he laid back down. This was awful. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol making out was terrible, and the only thing worse than that would be stupid Yixing texting Kyungsoo and letting him know that he was moving back to LA and wanted to see him.

Why? They didn’t need this in their lives right now. Not with Jongdae and everything that they were already going to have to deal with going forward. Just why?

Yixing had left for China knowing that he had broken Kyungsoo. How did he even have the audacity to reach out to him after a year? Had it even been a year? Shit, it had been more. Kyungsoo had started seeing Yixing their junior year. And it had been a disaster from the beginning.

Jongin and Jongdae hadn’t even known about the relationship until that summer when they had found Kyungsoo crying in his car in the school parking lot, only to be told that he and Yixing had gotten into a huge fight. And when a confused Jongin and Jongdae had asked why that would even happen, Kyungsoo had told them that they were together… kinda.

That soon became the norm. Kyungsoo crying. Kyungsoo and Yixing fighting. But the worst part, as far as Jongin was concerned, was the way Yixing treated Kyungsoo, like he was just there to help Yixing navigate his bi-curiousness and nothing more. Even though Kyungsoo was completely in love with him and had told him many times, Yixing never reciprocated. In the end, Yixing just used Kyungsoo for his own needs, and then when it was time to go to China, he threw him away.

Fuck Yixing. Fuck Chanyeol. Fuck all of this.

What was Jongin supposed to do? He thought he had curbed it all with Taeyong. But he should have known better.


End file.
